'Looked like a bit of a shoulder charge': Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii under spotlight after wiping out Noah Lolesio

Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii appeared lucky to avoid further scrutiny from the television match official after he wiped out Wallabies teammate Noah Lolesio with a potential shoulder charge on Saturday night.

ACT Brumbies playmaker Lolesio was flattened by NSW Waratahs standout Suaalii in the buildup to Billy Pollard's second try as the Canberra club stamped their authority with a 40-17 hiding.

Stan Sport's commentary team zoomed in on the legality - or otherwise - of Suaalii's hit but TMO James Leckie did not intervene.

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"Noah Lolesio was down in back play," Wallabies icon Tim Horan said.

"He didn't move for about 15 seconds. It wasn't a head knock, he just got wiped out here, watch the tackle there from Joseph Suaalii.

"Looked like a bit of a shoulder charge from the 15."

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Lolesio was able to play on and did not go off for a head injury assessment.

But ex-Wallabies lock turned Australia players association boss Justin Harrison felt it warranted a more vigorous examination.

"I'd be surprised if the TMO doesn't have a look at Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii's hit on Noah Lolesio," Harrison said.

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While Suaalii's tackle technique will be a concern for Wallabies coach Joe Schmidt, his overall form will not.

The fullback was again sensational with ball in hand, carving up the Brumbies defence with 118m from 10 carries and scoring a terrific try with a hard line back into the teeth of his opponents.

"He's hard to tackle, that's for sure," Brumbies centre Len Ikitau said.

"He put me under a lot of pressure, a lot of stress."

Fellow dual code star Mat Rogers raved about Suaalii's impact.

"I know how hard it is to come from one code into another, and people think it's the same," Rogers said.

"It's the same size field, it's the same ball - it's a different game.

"And it takes time to find your feet and find where you should be and where you shouldn't be, and the little intricacies of the game. He's just going to get better and better as time goes on.

"He is just such a great player and a great asset for the NSW Waratahs and Australian rugby. He's got a lot of eyeballs on this game."

But Stephen Larkham's side were collectively far too strong as they got revenge for NSW's 28-23 victory in Sydney in March.

Larkham told Stan Sport afterwards that his senior players had asked for full contact sessions in training as they looked to rebound from an upset loss to the Hurricanes on home soil.

It did the trick as rising hooker Pollard and winger Corey Toole both grabbed doubles while Ikitau and captain Allan Alaalatoa also scored tries for the Brumbies.

Langi Gleeson and Andrew Kellaway were the other Waratahs try-scorers.

The Brumbies are Australia's top team and third on the ladder while NSW are eighth with their top six finals hopes now looking shaky.

The Brumbies will travel to Perth to play the Western Force next Saturday.

"It feels great," Alaalatoa told Stan Sport.

"I think the pleasing part about it was seeing the reaction from the boys. We spoke hard last week about our collision, our contact areas of the game, and I thought that was a much improved area for tonight. The key thing for us is to take it into next week.

"We spent a lot of time in the meeting room, but the work we did on the grass, the intent was there all week."

The Waratahs, meanwhile, will dust themselves off to host the Queensland Reds in Sydney on Friday.

The Reds were also losers on Saturday, downed 36-33 at the buzzer by the Fijian Drua in Suva.

NSW Waratahs captain Jake Gordon was yellow carded in his return from injury.

"They came out of the blocks really hard, and we did a good job when I was in the bin and wrestled back the momentum and went into halftime pretty confident," Gordon said.

"We came out in the second half and had that try disallowed, and we couldn't find our way back. We started to lose the collision off the back of it and they played really well off quick ball."

Brumbies 40 (Toole 2, Pollard 2, Ikitau, Alaalatoa tries; Lolesio 5 con) Waratahs 17 (Gleeson, Suaalii, Kellaway tries; Creighton con)