Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii ruled fit for Wallabies Test against Ireland despite injury concerns

Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii has recovered from what initially was thought to be a serious injury to keep his spot in Australia's starting lineup against world No.2 Ireland on Sunday (AEDT).

Code hopper Suaalii came off holding his right arm just a half hour into Australia's 27-13 loss to Scotland last weekend that ended the Wallabies bid for a first Grand Slam since 1984.

However, he was declared fit for the last match of Australia's end-of-year European tour and will make his third start since a high profile switch from the NRL.

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"Joe's fine, he got kind of one of those stingers where he had a bit of a dead arm, and we just felt that it was better to get it properly assessed, and we couldn't hold the game up to do that," Wallabies coach Joe Schmidt said in Dublin.

"So we took him out of the game against Scotland, which was disappointing because we'd had a couple of late changes.

"But for Joseph, he's fully fit, fully able and I think what you will have seen if you look right through the last four games, we have been looking at different combinations, and we've shifted things by four or five players every week because we've got the eye on the immediate prize, and we want to be as competitive as we can be.

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"But at the same time, we know we've got to build some depth in preparation for the British and Irish Lions next year."

NSW flyhalf Tane Edmed will become the 19th Wallabies debutant this year if he comes off the bench, while winger Harry Potter - a try scorer on debut against Scotland - drops to the reserves as Max Jorgensen returns.

"He's grown in confidence, he hugely commits to knowing his role and trying to learn from the others around him," Schmidt said of Edmed.

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"Again, for us, having Len Ikitau outside of Jake Gordon, there's good experience there and Tate McDermott... and I think one of the things for us is that amongst the coaches, we were pretty committed to making sure that everyone who was originally selected in that tour squad was going to take the field."

Schmidt also recalled Fraser McReight, Taniela Tupou, Nick Frost and Jeremy Williams, who all missed the Scotland loss for various reasons.

Ireland, meanwhile, handed 21-year-old flyhalf Sam Prendergast a second straight start and are set to give prop Cian Healy a national record 134th cap.

Prendergast made his Ireland debut off the bench against Argentina two weeks ago and his first start against Fiji last weekend.

He kept his place at No.10 against most expectations, ahead of Jack Crowley, who started against New Zealand and Argentina.

"He's at the apex of that group of young players who are really exciting," Schmidt said.

"But again, he has got his debut against Fiji and I thought he did really well, and Faz (coach Andy Farrell) must have thought he went alright as well, I suppose because he's put him back in against us and that's some real confidence."

Healy will break a tie on 133 caps with Brian O’Driscoll should he come off the bench in Dublin.

The 37-year-old prop made his debut against the Wallabies in 2009.

“Cian is a giant of Irish rugby and we are determined to provide him with a performance that he deserves," Farrell said.

Australia opened their tour by beating England and Wales before fading against the Scots.

“It’s been a challenging year where we have grown a bit as a squad," Schmidt said.

"And we have an opportunity to challenge ourselves again against what is a settled and cohesive Ireland team.”

IRELAND (15-1): Hugo Keenan, Mack Hansen, Robbie Henshaw, Bundee Aki, James Lowe, Sam Prendergast, Jamison Gibson-Park, Caelan Doris (c), Josh van der Flier, Tadhg Beirne, James Ryan, Joe McCarthy, Finlay Bealham, Ronan Kelleher, Andrew Porter

Reserves: Gus McCarthy, Cian Healy, Tom O’Toole, Iain Henderson, Peter O'Mahony, Craig Casey, Jack Crowley, Garry Ringrose

AUSTRALIA (15-1): Tom Wright, Andrew Kellaway, Joseph Suaalii, Len Ikitau, Max Jorgensen, Noah Lolesio, Jake Gordon, Harry Wilson (c), Fraser McReight, Rob Valetini, Jeremy Williams, Nick Frost, Taniela Tupou, Brandon Paenga-Amosa, James Slipper

Reserves: Billy Pollard, Angus Bell, ⁠Allan Alaalatoa, ⁠Lukhan Salakaia-Loto, ⁠Langi Gleeson, Tate McDermott, Tane Edmed, Harry Potter