Today's rugby news as Gatland facing 'biggest week of his career' and Wales to face 'freak'

These are your morning headlines on Tuesday, November 12

Gatland's biggest week of career

Wales international Alex Cuthbert says Warren Gatland is facing the "biggest week of his career".

Make no bones about it, Wales and Gatland are seriously under the pump, having lost their tenth Test match in a row after their defeat to Fiji on Sunday.

READ MORE:Mike Phillips says Warren Gatland is 'laughing all the way to the bank' in surprise public dig

READ MORE:Tonight's rugby news as Wales v Fiji star summoned after match and Anscombe says players hurt

It equals Wales' worst-ever run in international rugby and the task doesn't get much easier, with Australia up this weekend before world champions South Africa arrive in the Welsh capital.

Go a calendar year with a win and things will turn even bleaker for Gatland.

"You only play eight to 12 Tests a year, so if you're losing them all then you have to accept your job is on the line," Cuthbert told BBC Radio Wales.

"We're in transition but we still had the players to win that game [against Fiji] and we're not seeing progress.

"People will question what's going on, if he's not getting the best out of the team, or it's the preparation, or the gameplan."

A few of Gatland's former lieutenants - Jamie Roberts, Dan Biggar and Mike Phillips - have voiced their feelings on the subject. Cuthbert believes his former head coach is facing the biggest seven days of his coaching career.

"He has been in this situation before and if anyone can get it right, it's Warren Gatland," Cuthbert said.

"But there's probably no bigger week in his Wales managerial career."

Anscombe: Suaalii 'seriously impressive'

Gareth Anscombe has sung the praises of Australia's Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii.

The two are likely to cross paths at the Principality Stadium this weekend, with the Wallaby earning rave reviews for his debut performance against England last Saturday. Sign up to our newsletter here.

If Wales are to overcome the Wallabies they will have to find a way to contain Suaalii.

They 21-year-old was a superstar in rugby league for NRL side Sydney Roosters and New South Wales in the State of Origin. Suaalii put in a sensational performance at outside centre in his first ever professional game of rugby union at Twickenham last weekend.

”Yes, he was seriously impressive,” said Anscombe.

“He made the game look pretty easy didn’t he. But look, it’s going to be a great challenge and I’m sure he’ll probably start in the midfield. In saying that the Fijian midfield was pretty dangerous today.

”I thought he had a sensational debut. He was dangerous, good in the air and quite a rangy player. I know the Wallabies are really well coached under Joe and we know what he’s done with Ireland in the past. I expect them to be fully prepared.

”They’ll be at their best next week which is a great challenge for us. Rather than talk about the negatives about trying to find a win we need to look at this as an opportunity to grow and get better.

”I really do think once we can break the shackles a little bit we can relax a little bit. It allows young boys to get a taste of what it’s like to play at this level.”

'Suaalii is a freak'

By PA Sport Staff

Meanwhile, Australia centre Len Ikitau has described his Wallabies midfield partner Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii as “a freak” following an unforgettable display against England.

Suaalii’s first professional game of rugby union saw him deliver a player-of-the-match performance as Australia triumphed 42-37.

World-class contributions in all areas defied the 21-year-old former rugby league star’s lack of experience as a union player.

And he could easily wreak similar havoc when Australia tackle out-of-sorts Wales in Cardiff on Saturday.

“He is a freak, man,” Ikitau said, during a Wallabies press conference in the Welsh capital.

“Just being able to play next to him and see what he can do on the field is awesome. And we are just expecting more from him now he has had his first game.

“We saw all of that at training. He came in, he did what he needed to learn and just showcased his skills on the field.

“I thought it was awesome to see him defending the 13 channel. He just wanted to be involved and wanted to get the ball.”

Suaalii’s breathtaking Wallabies debut was probably the last thing Wales needed to see, especially as they now go into the Autumn Nations Series clash one defeat away from a record 11th successive Test match loss.

A 24-19 reversal against Fiji came just a day after after Australia saw off England in a classic Twickenham encounter, and the Wallabies will be confident of collecting a 10th win from their last 12 Cardiff visits.

England out to erase Boks experience

By Duncan Bech, PA

Tommy Freeman is eager to erase the distressing memory of his last appearance against South Africa at the Allianz Stadium when England face the world champions on Saturday.

Two years ago Freeman became a victim of Eddie Jones’ brutal policy of replacing players early in matches if he felt they were underperforming, resulting in his substitution at half-time of the 27-13 defeat.

The Northampton wing, who was 21 at the time and making only his third Test appearance, was scapegoated for England’s aerial game malfunctioning, although he was never given an explanation by Jones for his removal.

He followed in the footsteps of Luther Burrell, Teimana Harrison, Alex Lozowski and Danny Care, who had also been hauled off early.

It was Jones’ last game in charge as he was subsequently sacked and replaced by Steve Borthwick, but the substitution left its mark on Freeman, whose next cap did not come until this year’s Six Nations.

Now with the Springboks visiting Twickenham in the penultimate Test of the autumn, he is ready to make it a memorable occasion for the right reasons.

“It wasn’t ideal being pulled off at half-time, that wasn’t the best feeling in the world,” he said.

“I got a tap on the shoulder at half-time – ‘you’re coming off’. We had a gameplan to try and get the ball back and I wasn’t delivering that.

“That was my first match at Twickenham because I had the two before in Australia. First one at Twickenham with your family and friends who didn’t manage to come out to Australia and they’re all sat there watching at Twickenham. It was difficult.

“No one wants it to go that way. You heard stories before of things like that happening and it’s something you never want to happen to you.

“This opportunity is one to put it right, that’s definitely in the back of my mind at the moment.”

Freeman was not selected for the 2023 World Cup when England went down fighting against South Africa, losing a titanic semi-final 16-15.

The Springboks retained their world title, won this year’s Rugby Championship and have been restored to the summit of the global rankings following Sunday’s victory over Scotland.

But Freeman insists they should not be shown too much respect as England look to end a four-match losing run.

“The semi-final in the World Cup was a one-point game. South Africa were definitely blown back by the way the lads took it to them,” Freeman said.

“They are not unbeatable, they are still human, they are still rugby players, they are still playing the same game.

“We are going to deliver our game as best we can, make a few wrongs right from our game against Australia and go properly after them.

“We are not going in saying ‘we are expecting them to beat us, we will give it a shot’. That has never crossed our minds.

“We are going in to deliver our gameplan and if we deliver it well enough we know we can beat any team.

“We may be considered as underdogs but we’re going to take a big shot at them.”