Wallabies centre Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii will be looking to press his claims one last time against France after his nomination for World Rugby Breakthrough Player of the Year.
Suaalii is part of an all-star four-man shortlist that includes English sensation Henry Pollock, South Africa flyer Ethan Hooker, and New Zealand standout Fabian Holland.
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It comes off the back of the 22-year-old claiming Rugby Australia Rookie of the Year after his Tets debut almost 12 months ago.
"It's pretty cool to get named. I'm not sure I've won an award, but I was saying before that no award goes without a team," the humble Suaalii told the media.
"It's all credit to the team to be nominated for that award, so it's pretty cool."
The Wallabies are coming off a 'testing period', having recently fallen to Ireland in Dublin after a final-quarter surge put the game out of reach.
"The last three weeks have really tested our character as a team and even individuals as well," Suaalii admits.
"I'd like to see it as a challenge that the last three weeks, the result hasn't been there, but the process of how we've been training each week and how we're going about things has been really well, in my opinion.
"All we can do is to focus on today and focus on training and how we can manipulate and get better and beat this French team."
Amid the disappointing stretch of form, Suaalii could see the positives of a rollercoaster season that included a thrilling British & Irish Lions series and victory over the Springboks in South Africa.
It's left the Waratah confident the current trials and tribulations will make them a better team come the 2027 Rugby World Cup.
"I've honestly just seen it as it's been a tough last three weeks, but it's going to be better for us as a team. It's all part of the process for us leading into the World Cup," he said.
"Each game matters for us to grow and build as a team and [the] support we're getting from all Australians. Even though we've been losing games, I still believe that a lot of Australians are in the crowds and a lot of support back home.
"We're just building, we're going to keep on building. We're going to lose some games, we're going to win some games, but we're going to get better each time.
"That's on us as players to step up to that play and also as a playing group to stay tight, and also our fans to keep on supporting us.
"...We've got to stick to the process of training hard, and the results will come. We truly believe that as a group."
