Source :- PERTH NOW NEWS
Hunter Paisami will play the Osaka Test like it’s his last, fully expecting good mate and Wallabies debutant Isaac Henry to show why he belongs on the big stage in Osaka.
Australia face Japan on Saturday, with Les Kiss handing centre Henry a potential debut off the bench in what will be the coach’s first game in charge.
Paisami will play his 36th Test and first this year after overcoming a knee injury in time to replace Len Ikitau (ankle) in the No.12.
The Queensland Reds centre will call Japan home next year after signing a three-year deal with the Shizuoka Blue Revs on the country’s south-coast.
He’ll remain eligible for the Wallabies ahead of next year’s World Cup in Australia but there are plentiful midfield options even behind reigning Wallabies player of the year Ikitau.
Two-time World Cup Wallaby Jordan Petaia will play in Japan next season and is on Kiss’s radar.
NSW Origin talent Angus Crichton is set to cross codes and join the NSW Waratahs while Izaia Perese has effectively replaced Paisami at Ballymore and Henry will be unleashed off the bench in Japan.
“My knee’s feeling good after a few setbacks but I’m looking forward to it and enjoying every moment here now because you never know when your next shot is,” Paisami told AAP.
“So I’m taking this as it comes and if the coach believes in you, it’s up to me to be at my best and repay that.”
Kiss has opted to keep Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii at No.13, rather than push the gifted talent to the backline.
How the coach utilises Suaalii’s obvious gifts is one of the greatest subplots of the Kiss tenure.
Paisami provides plenty of explosiveness but knows Henry, after years of injury hardship, could be the former NRL star’s perfect foil.
“He’s done well in the gym, bit ‘T-Rex’, and he’s come through some tough injuries,” he said.
“To see him in that gold jersey … so happy for him.
“He’s got all of it; skill set, big, physical … a complete player, can kick and goal kick.”
Henry’s six games for the Reds this season are more than the 27-year-old’s managed in any campaign since his 2021 Super Rugby debut.
A broken foot, hamstring and two separate knee ligament and tendon ruptures have been the biggest setbacks that required four major surgeries in as many years.
But before, in between, and since he’s shown why his selection on Thursday was so popular with teammates.
An unassuming character, it was Henry’s father who perhaps best summed up the good news.
“He said nothing and he was trying not to smile … a man of few words but he had a little grin,” captain Harry Wilson said.
“But he did say his dad was just the happiest bloke; went straight to the pub, that’s how happy he was.”
Australia have never lost to Japan in seven previous Tests and face the Eddie Jones-coached side again a week later in Townsville.
