Latest news with #LenIkitau
BBC News
a day ago
- Sport
- BBC News
Wallabies need to be more expansive
Australia centre Len Ikitau says he and fellow centre Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii need to go hunting the ball and be prepared to be more expansive in Saturday's second Test."I felt like I didn't really get him into the game as early as I wanted," said Ikitau of Suaalii in the hosts' performance in last weekend's 27-19 defeat by the tourists."We knew there were opportunities with their line speed and how they want to attack us in defence but I think just being able to pull the trigger when the opportunity comes and just being able to back our ability to pull the trigger."There were a few times I think we were just conservative and held the ball where there's opportunities out wide."Meanwhile former Australia captain Michael Hooper has suggested that Queensland Reds' Hunter Paisami should come into inside centre for the second Test, with Ikitau shifting out to 13 and Suaalii playing on the wing."You get a lot of punch with Hunter, and then you start to open up a bit of space for Joseph in the wider channels and the aerial threat, which we've already seen has been a big factor in this game, so a bit of a rejig there," Hooper told Stan Sport., external
Reuters
a day ago
- Sport
- Reuters
Wallabies look to get Suaalii more involved in second Lions test
MELBOURNE, July 22 (Reuters) - Joseph Suaalii's Australia centre partner Len Ikitau is hoping to get the rugby league convert involved in the game earlier and more often in the second test against the British & Irish Lions on Saturday. Suaalii made an explosive entry into test rugby against England last November but was a bit part player as the Wallabies were dominated by the Lions for the first hour of the 27-19 loss in Brisbane last week. Inside centre Ikitau took the crash ball option more often than not in the face of a fierce Lions rush defence with the result that Suaalii received very little clean possession to exploit. "We've only played a handful of games together but it's just trying to understand in what places he'd like to get the ball and kind of just feeding off each other," Ikitau told reporters on Tuesday. "I felt like I didn't really get him into the game as early as I wanted, but that's a lot of learnings that I can take moving forward." Suaalii was not the only Australian back who struggled to get his hands on the ball in the first half of the series opener with talented right winger Max Jorgensen restricted to a couple of touches before he scored a try off a box kick. "We knew there were opportunities with their line speed and how they wanted to attack us in defence, but I think just being able to pull the trigger when the opportunity comes and backing our ability to pull the trigger," Ikitau said. "A few times I think we were just conservative and held the ball where there's opportunities out wide." Some in Australia have urged coach Joe Schmidt to rejig his backline and give Suaalii a run in the outside backs on Saturday. "To be honest, if he's on the field that's the best thing for us, just somewhere on the field," said Ikitau. "If he's playing 13, if he's on the wing, fullback, I know that he's just a freak of an athlete and he can step up to the occasion and just play his footy. "He always (says) at the end of the day, it's a footy game and he's a footballer so I don't think it would faze him."
CNA
a day ago
- Sport
- CNA
Wallabies look to get Suaalii more involved in second Lions test
MELBOURNE :Joseph Suaalii's Australia centre partner Len Ikitau is hoping to get the rugby league convert involved in the game earlier and more often in the second test against the British & Irish Lions on Saturday. Suaalii made an explosive entry into test rugby against England last November but was a bit part player as the Wallabies were dominated by the Lions for the first hour of the 27-19 loss in Brisbane last week. Inside centre Ikitau took the crash ball option more often than not in the face of a fierce Lions rush defence with the result that Suaalii received very little clean possession to exploit. "We've only played a handful of games together but it's just trying to understand in what places he'd like to get the ball and kind of just feeding off each other," Ikitau told reporters on Tuesday. "I felt like I didn't really get him into the game as early as I wanted, but that's a lot of learnings that I can take moving forward." Suaalii was not the only Australian back who struggled to get his hands on the ball in the first half of the series opener with talented right winger Max Jorgensen restricted to a couple of touches before he scored a try off a box kick. "We knew there were opportunities with their line speed and how they wanted to attack us in defence, but I think just being able to pull the trigger when the opportunity comes and backing our ability to pull the trigger," Ikitau said. "A few times I think we were just conservative and held the ball where there's opportunities out wide." Some in Australia have urged coach Joe Schmidt to rejig his backline and give Suaalii a run in the outside backs on Saturday. "To be honest, if he's on the field that's the best thing for us, just somewhere on the field," said Ikitau. "If he's playing 13, if he's on the wing, fullback, I know that he's just a freak of an athlete and he can step up to the occasion and just play his footy. "He always (says) at the end of the day, it's a footy game and he's a footballer so I don't think it would faze him."
News.com.au
a day ago
- Sport
- News.com.au
Len Ikitau desperate to help Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii ‘pull the trigger' against the British and Irish Lions
Wallabies centre Len Ikitau says it's up to him to provide the platform for prized recruit Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii to terrorise the British and Irish Lions at the MCG on Saturday night. Down 1-0 in the three-Test series, the Wallabies can't afford another defeat if they want the following weekend's clash in Sydney to be more than a dead rubber. To level the series in Melbourne, the Wallabies need to find a way to get golden boy Suaalii – who switched codes last year on a multimillion-dollar deal after starring in the NRL for the Sydney Roosters – more involved in the game than he was in Australia's 27-19 first Test loss at Suncorp Stadium. 'I felt like I didn't really get him into the game as early as I wanted, but that's a lot of learnings I can take moving forward,' Ikitau said in discussing the need for his partner in the centres to get more of the ball. 'We've only played a handful of games together, but it's just trying to understand in what places he likes to get the ball, and feeding off each other. 'We've been going hard at training, making sure we know what we want as a centre pairing, and going off that.' Ikitau said it was also up to Suaalii, as well as himself, to 'go looking for the ball'. 'We can't sit on the edge and expect the ball will come, because sometimes the way the game's played, it doesn't really get to an edge,' he said. 'It's not like rugby league. He doesn't have to stay on the left side. He can roam around and get into the ruck or close to the ruck if he has to, to get a touch and be in the game.' 'I know that he's just a freak of an athlete and he can step up to the occasion, and just play his footy. 'It's just being able to pull the trigger when then opportunity comes, and just being able to back our opportunity to pull the trigger.' Ikitau, who made his Test debut in 2021 and has played 41 times for the Wallabies, felt it was also his responsibility to 'help' young flyhalf Tom Lynagh, who has just four appearances for Australia under his belt. 'I feel like I need to help Tommy. Tommy's only played a handful of games for the Wallabies, and it's just making sure he's got someone that he can rely on, and be comfortable with, and then just being able to flow and get the rest of the backline into the game,' Ikitau said. 'It's just giving Tommy the confidence to play his game and just backing him. We've got to back the young buck and let him play his game.'
The Guardian
4 days ago
- Sport
- The Guardian
Australia 19-27 British & Irish Lions: first Test player ratings
Tom Wright Kicked well from hand and covered the myriad Lions attacks as best he could. Not at fault in any way for the scores conceded. 6 Max Jorgensen Towering claim of kick and great finish for his try. Was always harrying his opposite number Lowe and regularly took it on himself to try and create something. 7 Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii Disallowed try for holding onto the ball, none of his usual trademark restart steals and poor defensive positioning at times. 5 Len Ikitau Put in a huge number of carries in an attempt to address the power deficit between the sides. 7 Harry Potter A difficult day for wingers made more tricky by his frequent mistakes. His fumbling of an early Russell kick into touch opened the door to the early Lions dominance. 5 Tom Lynagh Never stopped trying to make something happen in a largely chaotic opening hour where he was regularly on the back foot. Confident showing that belied this was his debut. 7 Jake Gordon Laboured in his distribution which allowed the Lions far more time to reset and dominate. Hasn't played a Test since May 2024 and it showed. 5 James Slipper Literally fronted up in a brilliant pack performance at the set piece for the Wallabies but was caught out a few times when defending open play. 6 Matt Faessler The lineout was poor the whole time he was on. It's not always the hooker's fault, but often it is. 5 Allan Alaalatoa Cornerstone of the revelatory scrum display, also won a turnover late in the match and put in his fair share of tackles as well. 8 Nick Frost Had to fill the Will Skelton-sized hole in the pack and performed adequately, hitting rucks and hitting double figures with tackles. 6 Jeremy Williams Primary lineout target and senior man in the boilerhouse who fell short on the day in both areas. 5 Nick Champion de Crespigny Lots of defensive work in this his first cap, which he didn't shy nor fall away from. Nothing to show going forward, however. 6 Fraser McReight Won some important ruck turnovers early in the game and contributed to the Australian resurgence in the second half. 7 Harry Wilson His efforts in defence and some deft kicks balanced out his lack of carries in the first half. Needs to show more for the ball to lead from the front as captain. 6 Replacements Billy Pollard 6; Angus Bell 7; Tom Robertson 5; Tom Hooper 6; Carlo Tizzano 7; Tate McDermott 7; Ben Donaldson 6; Andrew Kellaway n/a Hugo Keenan A few poor moments under the high ball, including allowing Jorgensen to snaffle possession for the opening Aussie try. 5 Tommy Freeman Kicked a couple out on the full and spilled a few balls both from passes and when fielding kicks. A forced offload that went to ground summed up his day. 5 Huw Jones Contained Suaalii for the most part and looked a threat with ball in hand. Skittled in defence by McDermott at one point. 6 Sione Tuipulotu Took his score well, which was made by his running angle as much as Russell's pass. Tidy in other departments. 7 James Lowe Off the pace, not good under fire from kicks, offered little in attack. Is he too slow for this level now? 5 Finn Russell Imperious in the first quarter as the fulcrum of the Lions' dominant start displaying his full array of skills, including the lovely floated pass for Tuipulotu's try. 8 Jamison Gibson-Park A performance of his usual energised competence, his box-kicks troubled the defence regularly and he ran the attack adroitly. 8 Ellis Genge Some rampaging carries set the tone of all that was good in the loose, but had a tougher time in his primary role in the scrum. 6 Dan Sheehan Hit his jumpers in the lineout with little fuss, fixing an issue on the tour so far when it mattered and scored his usual try. 7 Tadhg Furlong Not the player he once was in open play and has to take some responsibility for an underperforming scrum set piece. 6 Maro Itoje Set his usual example with workrate, especially as the performance energy dipped in the second half. Gave away a couple of penalties. 6 Joe McCarthy Continuing a history of players who are elevated in the red shirt, he played the enforcer role in defence well and was close to a try out wide. Farrell will hope reason for his early subbing is not too serious. 8 Tadhg Beirne The consummate big occasion performer does it again. Led the team in tackles and made a mess of Australia's breakdown regularly. 8 Tom Curry A very Tom Curry performance: powerful, busy and a total nuisance to the Wallabies; exactly what his coach wanted. Less prominent under pressure in second half. 8 Jack Conan Not a huge day for the highlight reel but put himself about in a workmanlike and solid performance that was the foundation of the back row's dominance. 7 Replacements: Ronan Kelleher 5; Andrew Porter 5; Will Stuart 5; Ollie Chessum 6; Ben Earl 6; Alex Mitchell n/a; Marcus Smith 6; Bundee Aki 6
