Autumn Nations Series Team of the Week: Joseph Sua’ali’i bursts onto the scene
LONDON, ENGLAND - NOVEMBER 09: Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii of Australia runs with the ball past Ollie Sleightholme of England during the Autumn Nations Series 2025 match between England and Australia at Allianz Stadium on November 09, 2024 in London, England. (Photo by David Rogers/Getty Images)
By Charlie Elliott
The past weekend of Autumn Nations Series action has been dominated by teams from the Southern Hemisphere, with them whitewashing their Northern neighbours.
From Joseph Sua’ali’i dominating in his union debut to the familiar face of Scott Barrett pushing the All Blacks over the line, here is the team of the week from a scintillating weekend of action.
Outside Backs
15: Tom Wright (Australia)
Scored Australia’s first try of the game, as well as showing some immense running with the ball, taking on England player after England player and succeeding time after time from full-back.
Played the full 80 and was comfortably one of the best players on the pitch.
14: Ollie Sleightholme (England)
Got himself a couple of tries, and although he was playing as a left wing, warrants a place in this team through being one of the main threats for England, which is more impressive given he came off the bench.
Steve Borthwick will definitely have him on his radar to start against South Africa.
Centres
13: Joseph Sua’ali’i (Australia)
People who weren’t familiar with Joseph Sua’ali’i before the game will now be well aware of this absolute monster of a player.
A dominant physical specimen who has all the attributes to be a top player and showed them in abundance on Saturday.
Only 21 years old and has the world at his feet following the switch from rugby league.
12: Josua Tuisova (Fiji)
In Fiji’s historic first-ever win in Cardiff against Wales, Josua Tuisova shone.
His game was epitomised by one of the most disrespectful handoffs of all time on Tomos Williams, with the move sadly ending in a disallowed try.
Tuisova did get himself a try of his own, powering past two Wales defenders and effectively winning the game for Fiji at that point.
11: Makazole Mapimpi (South Africa)
In what wasn’t a vintage South Africa win, Mapimpi was one of the few starters who provided a threat throughout.
Two tries to take him up to joint third in the all-time rankings for the Springboks, and despite having a yellow card to his name, will be hoping to get more starts under his belt off the back of this performance.
Halfbacks
10: Caleb Muntz (Fiji)
Probably the best player of the entire weekend.
Caleb Muntz did not have lots and lots of opportunities to make things happen, but every time he was given an inch, he took a mile.
Some very good kicking in there for him, as well as a brilliant try in the first half to set Fiji up nicely for the rest of game. Scored 79% of his side’s points.
9: Tomas Albornoz (Argentina)
We’re moving the goalposts for this one…
Although he was deployed as a 10, Albornoz and Muntz both had standout performances and it would have been very harsh to leave one of them out.
Argentina ran riot against Italy and six conversions, a penalty and a try for Albornoz signalled just how dominant he was. His points alone were enough to beat Italy.
Back Row
8: Harry Wilson (Australia)
15 carries, 14 tackles and a try for Harry Wilson, who was easily one of the best players on the field throughout.
Came off in the 65th and got sold by a Marcus Smith dummy, but apart from that never stopped and put England to the sword.
7: Josh van der Flier (Ireland)
Caused Cortez Ratima to have a very poor game.
Got Ireland’s first and only try of the game and was the only player in green who could take positives from this performance.
If there were 15 Josh’s on the pitch, Ireland would have had something to cheer about.
6: Chandler Cunningham-South (England)
Another underwhelming performance, and finish, from England, but Chandler Cunningham-South brought some trademark big hits, as well as getting himself a less-than-trademark brace of tries.
The Kiwi-raised powerhouse was always going to be up for this one and delivered in an otherwise lacklustre team performance.
Second Row
5: Jeremy Williams (Australia)
Got his first test try and a move that wouldn’t have looked out of place if done by a winger, although had a bit of controversy as there were doubts as to whether his foot went out.
4: Scott Barrett (New Zealand)
Despite a less-than-vintage performance from the All Blacks, the thing that won the game was the hustle of the forward players.
Scott Barrett lost his temper with Joe McCarthy in the first half, which was likely a tactical decision to show that he wasn’t going to shy away from the challenge.
Made 10 tackles and was always the man in control, shown by his willingness to turn down points by kicking to the corner on a couple of occasions.
Front Row
3: Thomas du Toit (South Africa)
Scored nicely following a dodgy South African lineout, with it being his first test try.
His skills in terms of finding gaps are almost like a winger at times, with him showing it plenty at club level, probably the most well-rounded prop there is.
2: Dewi Lake (Wales)
Perfect at the lineout and carried very well throughout his 45-minute spell on the pitch.
When captain Lake came off, Wales looked like a much poorer team, and this contributed majorly to their downfall in the end.
1: Ox Nche (South Africa)
Won every scrum, and just had a generally solid performance. No mistakes, just got on with his job and did it exceptionally well.
READ MORE: Of all the positives for Australia, Joseph Sua’ali’i was the biggest
