Wallabies great Chris Latham has backed Tom Wright to don the fullback jersey against the British & Irish Lions while endorsing Joseph Aukuso-Suaalii as Australia's long-term outside centre.
Latham, 49, currently serves as head coach of US Major League Rugby's Chicago Hounds and has kept a weather eye on Australia's backline stocks ahead of the hotly-anticipated Lions Series.
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Wright, 27, is Latham's early frontrunner following a breakout 2024 season with the Brumbies and Wallabies but the 78-cap fullback says Andrew Kellaway "isn't far behind".
"Tom Wright's been really good in that fullback role. I thought he had a really good European tour and he's certainly shown great glimpses of what he can be and can do - I'd just like to see more of him doing it and backing himself," Latham told rugby.com.au.
"It almost feels like he's picking and choosing when to do it as opposed to just, you know, ripping in and getting you hands on the ball as much as he can.
"He's a threat, a big fast ball-carrying fullback, and I think in today's game you need that pace with the subtlety of a kicking game.
"I feel like he's starting to come into his own, so it would be nice to see him settle into that position but Kellaway's played some good footy as well and I think it's important that there is competition.
"So I'd be saying to both of them 'Tom, you've got the jump but Kellaway, but you're not that far behind. Keep pushing each other'."
Latham try vs Wales 2006🪄 Just Latho doing Latho things. #ThrowbackThursday 🗓 Sunday 27 November, 2:15am AEDT 🏟 Principality Stadium, Cardiff 📺 Stan Sport #Wallabies eToro #WALvAUS
Posted by Wallabies on Thursday, November 24, 2022
Speaking on the Wallabies midfield prospects, Latham was effusive in his praise of Suaalii as Australia's long-term outside centre following the 21-year-old's explosive debut against England.
"He's an absolute freak of an athlete - he'd excel no matter where you put him - but I personally like him as a 13," Latham said of Suaalii.
"If you look across the board of all the 13s in Australia and don't get me wrong, there are some good ones, but the 13s in Australia the moment are more suited to a 12.
"(Suaalii)'s a triple threat - he's got that ability to run, offload, carry hard over the gain line and he's got the ability to defend. He's all we need a Wallaby 13 to be and it's something we don't have right now."
Latham's memories of the 2001 Lions Series victory are bittersweet - a dream starting role in Brisbane's opening Test quickly soured with Matt Burke coming on to replace him and eventually hold the position throughout - but the experience remains one of his fondest in rugby.
"I remember running out and it was just a sea of red. All you could hear were the Lions supporters singer and shouting and cheering and that really changed how Aussies supported rugby.
"So that was massive, out of that came the wearing of gold and all that stuff and for me that was the positive. The negative was letting Jason Robinson twinkle past me with three metres on the sideline cause I got shepherd's hooked after that.
"Thankfully he burnt a lot of people that day and the rest of the series but that Lions tour really transformed how rugby was supported, promoted in Australia - it was an awesome time."
