Eddie Jones has seen enough of Suliasi Vunivalu to declare "he's got it", adamant the injured, out-of-favour code hopper can skip a growing queue to win a shock Wallabies World Cup call-up.
The Fijian-born winger won't play in the Queensland Reds' Super Rugby Pacific opener in Townsville as he recovers from a minor ankle injury.
Hamstring injuries have stalled the NRL convert since his big-money move from the Melbourne Storm in 2021 that seemed destined to end in Wallabies stardom.
But he's played just three minutes in gold and by the end of Rennie's reign found himself out of a 44-man squad behind Andrew Kellaway, Mark Nawaqanitawase, Jordan Petaia, Reece Hodge, Tom Wright and Japan-based first-choice winger Marika Koroibete.
Enter Jones, though, and the returning Wallabies coach is insistent that form can trump the pecking order when he selects his 33-man World Cup squad for the September-October showpiece in France.
"Oh, he's got it, mate," Jones told AAP of Vunivalu, who last year signed a deal keeping him on RA's books until after this year's World Cup.
"I've seen him play enough NRL at the highest level to know.
"It sometimes takes players a little longer to find their feet (in rugby), but I saw him (at a trial game) in Narrabri for 20 minutes and was really impressed with his defence and communication.
"That is the beauty of it; there's opportunity there.
"Historical form counts, but if you're playing well and at the top of your form it's hard not to pick you so (he's got to) ... get back on the field and get the ball in his hands."
Jones' comments come after reigning Australian Super Rugby player of the year Rob Valetini admitted even he was nervous about retaining his Test status under the new boss.
After hamstring surgery in 2021, Vunivalu told AAP he had asked RA's conditioning team to "tone it down" during the week in an effort to prime him for game-time.
Vunivalu, who grew up playing rugby in Fiji and New Zealand, explained that method had worked to minimise injury during a 111-game NRL career that netted 86 tries and two premierships.
Tellingly, Jones backed NRL converts Mat Rogers, Wendell Sailor and Lote Tuqiri - all wingers - when he was last in charge of the Wallabies for the 2003 World Cup.
All three played in the World Cup extra-time final loss to England, with Rogers starting at fullback and Sailor and Tuqiri on the wings.
Jones' bombshell call that Vunivalu remains very much in the mix will further place every Australian winger on notice.
Vunivalu is a chance to play next weekend, allowing the 27-year-old a chance to impress before an early-season Test camp and then the first of five pre-World Cup Tests from July.
"You've got to find out what's right for each player," Jones said when asked how he'd manage Vunivalu's workload.
"At the Storm, if he was allowed to train like (they knew) that, he'd front up and perform.
"When you're new into a team, that's harder because people don't know you.
"But he'll work it out."
