All Blacks centre to start first Super Rugby Pacific game in 20 months after horror injury
Quinn Tupaea in action for the Chiefs in pre-season in 2024.
Quinn Tupaea will make his long-awaited Super Rugby Pacific return after being named in the Chiefs side to face the Crusaders on Friday.
The 24-year-old spent 11 months on the sidelines after a cheap shot from Australia’s Darcy Swain ruptured his medial cruciate ligament.
Tupaea also suffered a partial tear of the anterior cruciate ligament following Swain’s ‘attempted’ clearout at a ruck during a Bledisloe Cup tie in September 2022.
World Cup blow
As a result, the centre was forced to sit out the entirety of the 2023 Super Rugby season, thus ending his Rugby World Cup hopes, with him returning to action in the National Provincial Championship in August.
He featured six times for Waikato during that NPC campaign, but this will be Tupaea’s first Chiefs game in 20 months – since their semi-final defeat in June 2022.
That ironically came against the Crusaders as the Christchurch outfit went on to claim an 11th Super Rugby title.
They have since added a 12th but they are under new management with Scott Roberson departing to take over the All Blacks.
The Chiefs may therefore sense an opportunity to dethrone their rivals, especially after naming a strong team for the opener.
Tupaea is joined in midfield by experienced All Black Anton Lienert-Brown, while Damian McKenzie will seek to lay down an international marker at fly-half.
Scrum-half Brad Weber has departed for France but Xavier Roe has the talent to cover for his loss and joins McKenzie in the playmaking positions.
Shaun Stevenson will aim to continue his fine from the 2023 campaign and the full-back combines with Liam Coombes-Fabling and Etene Nanai-Seturo in the back three.
In the pack, they have a strong back five headlined by captain Luke Jacobson at number eight. Flankers Kaylum Boshier – younger brother of ex-Chief Lachlan – and Samipeni Finau are the other two members of the loose trio, while Tupou Vaa’i and Naitoa Ah Kuoi combine in the engine room.
Finally, the front-row is made up of Reuben O’Neill, Bradley Slater and Aidan Ross.
On the bench, they will have plenty of impact in the shape of New Zealand hooker Samisoni Taukei’aho, with Ollie Norris, George Dyer, Jimmy Tupou and Simon Parker the other forward replacements. Cortez Ratima, Josh Ioane and Daniel Rona cover the backs.
“It’s an exciting way to kick off the DHL Super Rugby Pacific season, and we look forward to hosting the Crusaders who are a formidable opposition,” Chiefs head coach Clayton McMillan said.
“There were some tough conversations in selecting the team this week, with several of our younger squad members impressing through pre-season and pushing hard for inclusion.
“But you can’t underestimate the value of time in the middle, so we have selected a largely experienced and settled side who understand what will be coming at them come Friday night.”
Chiefs side to face the Crusaders
Chiefs: 15 Shaun Stevenson, 14 Liam Coombes-Fabling, 13 Anton Lienert-Brown, 12 Quinn Tupaea, 11 Etene Nanai-Seturo, 10 Damian McKenzie, 9 Xavier Roe, 8 Luke Jacobson (c), 7 Kaylum Boshier, 6 Samipeni Finau, 5 Tupou Vaa’i, 4 Naitoa Ah Kuoi, 3 Reuben O’Neill, 2 Bradley Slater, 1 Aidan Ross
Replacements: 16 Samisoni Taukei’aho, 17 Ollie Norris, 18 George Dyer, 19 Jimmy Tupou, 20 Simon Parker, 21 Cortez Ratima, 22 Josh Ioane, 23 Daniel Rona
Date: Friday, February 23
Venue: FMG Waikato Stadium, Hamilton
Kick-off: 19:05 local (06:05 GMT)
Referee: Nic Berry (Australia)
Assistant Referees: Jordan Way (Australia), Reuben Keane (Australia)
TMO: Aaron Paterson (New Zealand)