Suliasi Vunivalu ‘ready’ for Wallabies debut

Planet Rugby 02 Sep 2021 6:40 AM

Suliasi Vunivalu of the Reds is seen during the Round 2 Super Rugby match between the Queensland Reds and Melbourne Rebels at Suncorp Stadium in Brisbane, Friday, February 26, 2021. (AAP Image/Darren England) NO ARCHIVING, EDITORIAL USE ONLY ** STRICTLY EDITORIAL USE ONLY, NO COMMERCIAL USE, NO BOOKS **

Reds flyer Suliasi Vunivalu has put his hat in the ring for a starting Wallabies jersey, despite a disrupted first season in professional rugby union.

The league convert has impressed when on the field but only featured in eight out of 14 Super Rugby matches, while he has also missed the French series and the two Bledisloe Cup clashes against New Zealand.

Vunivalu has since recovered from a hamstring injury but will not be available for this weekend’s game with the All Blacks.

Instead, the wing is targeting the contests against the Springboks and believes that he can make an impact should Dave Rennie place his trust in him.

Full tilt

“I’ll be at full tilt next week, I’ll be ready,” the 25-year-old told AAP.

“Watching the games on TV I was like far out, there’s good opportunities on the wing to get some cross kicks one-on-one and also to swing around the back.

“But it’s easy to see it on TV and say it but another to play it.”

Vunivalu has sustained hamstring injuries before, in 2018 and 2019, but admits that he had to adapt his training to suit his new sport.

“I had to go and speak to the trainer about my training load, coming back from injury some stuff I don’t normally do in league was put on me,” he said.

“I just asked them to tone it down a little bit because coming back from a hamstring, doing sprint running Monday, Tuesday and Thursday wasn’t good and they noticed it as well.

“Some players are different and need to be looked after differently and we’ve learnt from that.”

As well as his injury struggles, the wing has endured off-field issues having had a court case hanging over his head. Following an incident with a bouncer in January, Vunivalu was charged with common assault but that was dropped last month.

It was a huge relief for the Reds star, who has also struggled with being away from his family caused by the Covid-19 bubbles and travel restrictions.

“I’m so happy that’s all done, it has always been in the back of my head throughout the season and could have been resolved quicker,” Vunivalu added.

“(And time away from family has been) very taxing. You want to see them, but you have to put food on the table and 100 percent I’ve got to do it.

“This is the game I love and I see how I can look after them, (compared to) my upbringing in Fiji, the struggles that I went through when my mum and dad had no jobs.

“I’m able to provide really well for my kids, so as long as they’re well looked after I’m happy.”