SYDNEY (AP) — Rugby league convert Joseph Sua'ali'i featured in the Australia squad named on Tuesday for the four-test tour of Britain and Ireland next month.
Beside Sua'ali'i, who has yet to play professional rugby union, the other uncapped players in the 34-man squad were also backs, New South Wales Waratahs flyhalf Tane Edmed and Western Force winger Harry Potter.
Japan-based center Samu Kerevi and France-based lock Will Skelton were also picked after last appearing for the Wallabies in the Rugby World Cup a year ago in France.
The 21-year-old Sua’ali’i signed a reported A$5.3 million ($3.5 million) contract with the Australian Rugby Union last year. But he didn’t officially switch codes until last week, after helping the Sydney Roosters reach the National Rugby League playoffs for a third straight year.
He's contracted to the 2027 Rugby World Cup in Australia. Sua’ali’i hasn't played rugby union since 2018 but he's played rugby league to the highest level.
He played for Samoa when it reached its first final at the 2022 Rugby League World Cup in England, and appeared in the State of Origin this year.
“Having had him at the (training) hub in Canberra last week, he’s a kid who works hard on his game and very quick to pick things up,” Wallabies coach Joe Schmidt said on Tuesday.
“We just want to make sure that we give him the best runway possible to try and get involved in the Wallabies. Part of it is that we play the (British and Irish) Lions next year so if he doesn’t debut on this tour, there’s a very little window — maybe one opportunity — to play before the Lions (tour) and that would be it.
“We feel a little bit of pressure to be able to fast-track him.”
Sua’ali’i has played center and wing but Schmidt wouldn’t say where he will put him.
“I’ve seen enough of him play as a rugby league player in the midfield and have got really good feedback from others players about him in the schools system,” he said.
The Wallabies leave next week on the 40th anniversary of their one and only Grand Slam tour of the home nations.
They’ll recreate it with tests against England on Nov. 9, Wales on Nov. 17, Scotland on Nov. 24, and Ireland on Nov. 30.
AP rugby: https://apnews.com/hub/rugby
Samoa's Joseph Sua’ali’i in action during the Rugby League World Cup quarterfinal match between Tonga and Samoa at the Halliwell Jones Stadium, Warrington, England, Sunday Nov. 6, 2022. (Tim Goode/PA via AP)
U.S. indices declined in premarket trading as Wall Street’s record-breaking rally appeared to lose some steam despite strong quarterly performances from high-profile companies.
Futures for the S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average each fell 0.4% before the bell Tuesday.
The S&P, Dow Jones and Nasdaq are still up between nearly 5% and 7% over the past three months on indications that the U.S. economy is humming.
General Motors rose less than 1% after the Detroit automaker managed to post a third-quarter profit of $3 billion despite slowing U.S. sales and a big loss at a once-reliably profitable joint venture in China. GM beat Wall Street's sales and profit projections and narrowed its full-year net income guidance.
GE Aerospace, which began trading independently this spring after splitting off from the former conglomerate General Electric, fell 3.5% even though it posted strong third-quarter profit and raised its fourth-quarter guidance significantly.
German software giant SAP rose 3.3% after it nudged past profit expectations, while personal protective gear and industrial coatings company 3M climbed 4.7% after it topped Wall Street's third-quarter sales and profit targets.
“The next two weeks are set to be a wild ride," said Stephen Innes, managing partner at SPI Asset Management. “Volatility has surged across stocks, bonds, and currencies as investors brace for a perfect storm of risks: a hotly contested U.S. election, critical interest-rate decisions in both the U.S. and Europe, the looming threat of a wider Middle East conflict, and the ever-present pressure of quarterly earnings.”
Wall Street’s rally to record highs this year has been fueled by hopes the U.S. economy can escape from the worst inflation in generations without a painful recession that many believed to be inevitable.
With the Federal Reserve now cutting interest rates to keep the economy vibrant, optimists see stocks rising even further. Naysayers, however, see an overpriced market where the rosing cost of U.S. stocks has outpaced corporate profits.
More than 100 companies in the S&P 500 are scheduled to release details this week about their performances during the summer. That includes such heavyweights as AT&T, Coca-Cola, IBM and Tesla.
At midday, France’s CAC 40 lost 0.5%, while the German DAX fell back 0.2%. Britain’s FTSE 100 was down 0.6%.
In Asian trading, Japan's benchmark Nikkei 225 dropped 1.4% to finish at 38,411.96. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 fell 1.7% to 8,205.70, while South Korea's Kospi slipped 1.3% to 2,570.70.
Hong Kong's Hang Seng gained 0.1% to 20,498.95 and the Shanghai Composite rose 0.5% to 3,285.87 following a cut to interest rates that took effect on Monday.
Benchmark U.S. crude picked up 67 cents to $70.71 a barrel. Brent crude, the international standard, rose 62 cents to $74.91 a barrel.
The U.S. dollar rose to 150.80 Japanese yen from 150.69 yen. The euro was up to $1.0824 from $1.0819.
A banner for LATAM Airlines hangs from the front of the New York Stock Exchange on Tuesday, Oct. 22, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Peter Morgan)
FILE - People pass the New York Stock Exchange, at rear, in New York's Financial District on Oct. 16, 2024. (AP Photo/Peter Morgan, File)
A person stands in front of an electronic stock board showing Japan's Nikkei index at a securities firm Tuesday, Oct. 22, 2024, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)
A police officer rides a bicycle in front of an electronic stock board showing Japan's Nikkei index at a securities firm Tuesday, Oct. 22, 2024, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)
A person walks in front of an electronic stock board showing Japan's Nikkei index at a securities firm Tuesday, Oct. 22, 2024, in Tokyo. (AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)
