Ex-All Black backs player who is ‘so efficient at getting through the collision’ to retain starting role
All Blacks centre Quinn Tupaea celebrates a try against the Wallabies, and ex-New Zealand hooker James Parsons (inset).
Ex-New Zealand hooker James Parsons believes Quinn Tupaea has cemented his place as the All Blacks’ first choice outside centre after his performance in their win over the Wallabies in Perth last Saturday.
After catching the eye with some barnstorming showings off the replacements bench in New Zealand’s earlier Rugby Championship encounters, Tupaea was named in midfield alongside Jordie Barrett for the Rugby Championship encounter at Optus Stadium.
This, after Billy Proctor was the player who wore the number 13 jersey for the All Blacks in seven of their previous eight Tests this year.
However, he was left out of the matchday squad for the Rugby Championship clash with the Wallabies, which the All Blacks eventually won 28-14, with Tupaea, who is primarily an inside centre, lining up in his new position in the starting line-up.
Received the the official Player of the Match award
And the 26-year-old made full use of the opportunity presented to him as he caught the eye with an outstanding attacking display which resulted in him crossing for a brace of tries and he was rewarded with the official Player of the Match award after the Test.
Parsons, who made two Test appearances for New Zealand between 2014 and 2016, feels Tupaea’s direct style of play and the angles that he ran in that game with the Wallabies, will make it difficult for All Blacks head coach Scott Robertson to omit him from his first choice starting line-up for their upcoming Tests against Ireland, Scotland, England and Wales.
“He’s so efficient at getting through the collision, like rugby is about you win the collision, you’re going to win the game of footy,” he told the Aotearoa Rugby Pod.
“And that probably is what sets South Africa apart at the moment, because across the field, they can always dominate that collision. And it’s just something, you saw it off the bench, and now Quinn’s done it starting.
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“He’s going to be hard to leave out. And in terms of how they (New Zealand) want to play and how they want to manipulate defence, he’s going to have to be watched, which means teams will adjust.
“He’s not going to always have it his way because they’ll have to adjust to him. But what he’s doing is forcing them to have to make the adjustments, which may open up opportunities elsewhere to be exposed.”
Former Crusaders scrum-half Bryn Hall, who is now plying his trade with Japan Rugby League One outfit Kubota Spears, echoed Parsons sentiments and said what impressed him about Tupaea is how he and centre partner Barrett swapped roles during Saturday’s clash with Australia.
“I think it’s the ability to be able to get over the advantage line. If you look at probably a lot of teams, most of the South Africans, when you do get over that advantage line, it’s able to open up, for a guy like Cam Roigard, who opens up our edge attack, or been able to play off our pods because that good direct ball has been able to get us on the front foot,” he said.
‘I don’t think a lot needs to change with Quinn’
“So I don’t think a lot needs to change with Quinn, and what I really did enjoy sometimes is they actually switched Jordie and Quinn.
“So being able to get Quinn at that number 12 role, putting Jordie out to 13. If, you know, Jordie doesn’t have to be in that ruck, then that third phase, he might end up being a distributor.
“So they can play in and around, being able to use Quinn’s physical, I guess, dominance, getting over the advantage line, and then being able to maybe open up Jordie Barrett, who has that skill-set of being able to have a run past kick.
“So I really enjoyed Quinn and being able to see how direct he was. Yes, he did score tries, but his ability to be able to get over the advantage line, is something that we probably haven’t seen from our centres in the early part of this season.”