The legendary Liverpool football manager Bill Shankly famously said “form is temporary but class is permanent.”
Perhaps Joe Schmidt had that in mind when he selected Joseph Suaalii to make his professional rugby debut in front of 82,000 people at Twickenham, in a Test match no less.
What we saw was the the best performance by an Australian outside centre in at least the last five years, maybe ten.
Cue the accusations of ‘hyperbole’ that will predictably come from the same crowd who thought Suaalii was an overpriced ‘leaguie’. A poor investment.
But I stand by it all the same.
The thing about Suaalii is that he didn’t drift, he stepped back into the opposition defence time and again, straightening the line, creating overlaps at will.
Australia has not had an outside centre create space for those around him like that since Little, Herbert and Mortlock.
(Photo by Andrew Kearns – CameraSport via Getty Images)
That is no disrespect to the wonderful Len Ikitau or players before him like Rob Horne.
But by the 50th minute young Joseph had six carries for 26 metres and four offloads. And he kept at it.
Paul Grayson for the BBC said “Suaalii doesn’t look like a nervous debutant! He has had some sublime touches.”
Soon after, his colleague Matt Dawson waxed lyrical: “Another piece of brilliance from this rugby league convert. Paul Grayson was saying about how people are worried about his defence… well don’t worry about his defence, just watch his attack.”
It was in fact Tom Wright not the ex-Rooster who was caught out twice in defence allowing England to find their feet again. But for the most part players seemed to grow, especially in attack, around the 21-year-old.
Great players, classy athletes have that effect – they make those around them better.
They win all-time Tests at Twickenham that we had no right dreaming about winning. Against sides who have beaten us ten times out of the last 11.
It’s no coincidence that the Wallaby passing and offloading was silky. That the attack looked a little like the one that included the likes of Little and Herbert.
It will be galling for many, maybe even traumatic for some to admit Hamish McLennan might have got it right.
Despite all the naysayers and people almost wishing him to fail, Joseph Suaalii is better than good and will get better.
Almost to a man, the Wallabies stood up and were counted.
But aside from Suaalii there was one other especially worthy of superlatives, our world class prop, Angus Bell.
Bell getting tired around the 60th minute, when props are meant to tire, certainly coincided with the English resurgence.
When Shankly spoke of class being permanent all those years ago, he probably was thinking more of athletes like outside centres. But it applies equally to a big hearted, big bopper on the comeback trail like Angus too.