Wallabies handed huge Joseph Suaalii boost after initial fears of $5 million injury disaster

Joseph Suaalii has avoided serious injury and could play in the Wallabies' clash with Ireland after Australia had their hopes of completing the 'grand slam' crushed on Sunday night. The $5 million signing from the NRL was left clutching his right arm after attempting a tackle on Scotland player Sione Tuipulotu in the 30th minute at Murrayfield.

Suaalii was forced from the field with what was initially feared to be a broken wrist, although the Wallabies later said they were confident the injury wasn't as bad as it first looked. And on Tuesday that was confirmed, with the team providing a positive update. "After making a tackle yesterday, Joseph Suaalii lost function and had severe pain in his right arm and was substituted," a team statement from Dublin said.

"Since full-time and after travelling with the team to Ireland, his function is returning, and pain is subsiding. He was medically reviewed post-game and there is no evidence of a fracture and will be monitored throughout the week."

Wallabies coach Joe Schmidt said after the 27-13 loss: "He's got a pretty numb arm, but we're hopeful it's not too bad." Wallabies great Tim Horan said in commentary at the time: "It was a good shot too on the 12. Tuipulotu came across inside and then you just saw him hold. As soon as he made the hit, his right wrist, he held it up.

"You thought it might have been a stinger early on with his right shoulder. And then straight away he went off and Tuipulotu had a bit of a laugh to him. But that's huge. If he's got a broken arm or broken wrist, that's eight to 10 weeks at least. That's probably his season over."

Sione Tuipulotu comes back to haunt Wallabies

After wins over England and Wales in the first two games of their British Isles tour, the Wallabies had been hoping to become the first Aussie team in 40 years to complete the famed 'grand slam' by also beating Scotland and Ireland. But they came undone at the hands of the Scots on Sunday night.

Scottish captain Tuipulotu, who was born and bred in Melbourne, proved the difference as he came back to burn his birth nation. Tuipulotu played for Australia at Under-20 level, but will always be regarded as a Wallaby who get away.

The Wallabies scored 13 tries in their first two matches, but only managed one through debutant Harry Potter in the 75th minute. Tries from Tuipulotu, a national record-breaking 30th for Ruhan van der Merwe, flanker Josh Bayliss and the brilliant Finn Russell were a fair reflection of the Scots' dominance.

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Wallabies crushed after grand slam dream ended

Wallabies captain Harry Wilson said his team have been left "hurt" by the end of their British Isles grand slam dream. "It is disappointing. I know everyone really wanted to be part of history, so it does hurt," he said.

The Wallabies lost key hooker Matt Faessler through injury and sick lock Jeremy Williams in the 24 hours before the game. But Schmidt wasn't making any excuses, even over the fact they couldn't train at times due to pitches being frozen.

"We were already a little bit glued together," conceded Schmidt. "But it's a really good exercise for us to be put in that situation against a good team and I felt they stayed really competitive - albeit you can't miss 30-plus tackles in an international against a really good team and expect to get the result."

Schmidt remains confident his side can take down Ireland in a return to Dublin to play his old charges next Saturday (Sunday Aussie time). "Scotland are a good side and, hopefully, people can still see there's some quality starting to be built through through an Australian side that's actually starting to show a bit of depth, albeit with some pretty inexperienced players," he said.

with AAP