Wallabies: Les Kiss gives circumspect verdict on Hunter Paisami’s suspension for Bledisloe Cup Tests
Wallabies head coach Les Kiss and inside centre Hunter Paisami.
Wallabies head coach Les Kiss has given his verdict on inside centre Hunter Paisami’s four-match ban which rules him out of the upcoming Bledisloe Cup Tests against the All Blacks.
During the Wallabies’ 42-38 triumph over the Springboks in Perth on Sunday, Paisami was yellow carded in the 76th minute for a dangerous tackle on Sacha Feinberg-Mngomezulu.
The midfielder initially received a six-match suspension for his indiscretion, which ruled him out of the Bledisloe Cup Tests against the All Blacks this month.
However, in a bid to feature in those Tests, he appealed the decision but his suspension was only reduced by two weeks and Kiss was circumspect when asked for his reaction to Paisami‘s suspension.
‘It could have been a little bit less than that’
“I’ll be careful what I say because I might be fined,” he told reporters on Thursday. “But four weeks, I thought it could have been a little bit less than that, for sure.
“However, it’s what it is, and we’ll deal with the reality of it.
“We’ve got two Bledisloe games and some other games that we can put that (suspension) into play, but ultimately, he’s out, and we’ll have to deal with that.”
With Paisami ineligible for the Bledisloe Cup Tests, which will be held at Eden Park in Auckland and the Accor Stadium in Sydney on October 10 and 17 respectively, his place in the Wallabies squad has been taken by his Queensland Reds team-mate Jock Campbell.
Paisami and Len Ikitau formed an impressive centre partnership against the Springboks and there were fears that the Wallabies could have a midfield crisis after the latter limped off the field early in the second half against the Boks due to an ankle injury.
Wallabies centre banned after dangerous tackle on Springboks fly-half and misses All Blacks Tests
However, Ikitau still has a chance of facing the All Blacks while Jordan Petaia, Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii, Isaac Henry and Filipo Daugunu are the other centre options in the Wallabies squad.
Fitness test for Ikitau
Ikitau is set to have a fitness test on Friday which could determine whether he participates in the Bledisloe Cup Tests.
Suaalii, who started on the left wing against the Springboks, has played at outside centre alongside Ikitau for most of his international career and Henry has done well at Test level since making his Wallabies debut against Japan earlier this year.
Want more from Planet Rugby? Add us as a preferred source on Google to your favourites list for world-class coverage you can trust.
Meanwhile, Petaia, who recently joined Japan Rugby League One outfit Urayasu D-Rocks, and Daugunu are utility backs who play primarily in the back three positions but are also capable of playing in midfield.
“That’s (Suaalii) one option, and that’s been the value of having Joseph doing so much work in the 13 channel over the last two or three years,” said Kiss.
“So yeah, that’s an option. We’ve also got a fairly handy option with Isaac Henry, sitting there as well.
“Filipo covers the midfield and he covers the wing position as well, so we have got some readily-made replacements there for sure.
“He’ll (Petaia) come into the picture for sure and let’s remember, Jordie can play 13, wing and 15, and that flexibility is really important for us. So it’s great for him to be able to continue with us for sure.”
