Wallabies coach Dave Rennie has praised Waratahs winger Mark Nawaqanitawase, continuing his breakout season with selection for the Spring Tour.
Nawaqanitawase was one of the big winners from Sunday's announcement, Rennie naming the 22-year-old as one of five uncapped players in the 36-player squad.
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It continues an incredible rise for the young winger, who wasn't in the Waratahs' 23 to start the season after arriving on the scene with plenty of promise.
His ability to finish saw him fast-tracked into the Australia A set-up, scoring seven tries in his final nine Super Rugby Pacific games before delivering a starring performance in their first and third Tests against Japan XV.
This coupled with strong stints during his time in Wallaby training as an extended squad member before his Sevens stint was enough to convince Rennie to take him to Europe.
“I thought he was excellent over in Japan,” Rennie told reporters on Nawaqanitawase.
“He’s got an excellent skill set; he’s a big man, his ability to beat people, his creative pass, high ball, and even chasing kicks. He was all over the park, looking for work, getting a lot of touches, having a real impact on the game.
“It’s exciting for him, he’s really grown in the last 12 months. We brought him into camp to give ourselves a bit of cover when he came back from Sevens so it’s nice to officially name him in our squad.”
The departure of Marika Koroibete to Japan opens a spot for Nawaqanitawase to compete for in a stacked back-three that includes the returning Tom Banks and Jock Campbell.
Campbell's Reds teammate Suliasi Vunivalu was on the flip side of Nawaqanitwase's selection, overlooked altogether.
This comes despite spending the majority of the Test season in the Wallabies squad, featuring for less than five minutes in the final Test against England in July.
The Australia A tour of Japan was seen as the perfect stage for Vunivalu to press his claims, however ironically, it's potentially been the downfall of his Wallaby aspirations as Rennie explained.
“He had some nice touches but if we looked at the players who had the biggest impact and played the best on that Australia A tour, Tom Banks, Jock Campbell and Mark (Nawaqanitawase) were the three standouts. In the end, they’ve played better than Suli,” the Wallabies coach put bluntly.
It leaves many to question Vunivalu's future, having only recently signed a one-year extension with the Queensland Reds and Australian Rugby.
Meanwhile, Rennie confirmed lock Will Skelton will be unavailable for the Tests against Scotland and Wales.
This comes under World Rugby's regulation nine, which dictates clubs only have to make players available for a three-week period during the autumn Test period.
Whilst flyhalf Bernard Foley has been cleared to join as the second overseas player after initial concerns, he will join the towering lock on the sidelines for the final Test of the season. This potentially opening the door for Ben Donaldson to start after he edged out Waratahs teammate Tane Edmed.
“Both good boys and both played well over in Japan. We just think Donno edged out Tane is his ability to play,” Rennie believes.
“He’s quick, got a smart kicking game and he controlled things well. They played a lot off nine the As, as do the Waratahs. We had Donno in camp for four weeks and he really impressed us in that period.
“We want to see him boss things around a little more and looking forward to taking him away as part of the group to accelerate that development.”
