Wallabies: Taniela Tupou’s ‘dead right’ verdict on the Springboks and his honest admission about his ‘first few months in France’ with Racing
Taniela Tupou has been enjoying a golden renaissance with the Wallabies, but the Springboks and Ox Nche, inset, present a huge challenge
Taniela Tupou’s assessment of the likely challenge that will be presented on Sunday by the Springboks in Perth has been given a ringing endorsement by one of his Wallaby coaches.
The 30-year-old prop was wheeled out for media duties on Tuesday and with the South Africans having arrived in Australia on the back of bossing the All Blacks at set-piece in the recent Greatest Rivalry series they won 3-1, it was inevitable that most of the questions put to him were about how the Wallabies pack will cope with the intensity.
“Yeah, we’re excited,” he kicked off. “As a front-row, we have been working hard. We know what’s coming. We all know they are the best in the world on set-piece, on scrum, so this week is a good challenge for us to test ourselves and see where we are as a group. So, we’re looking forward to it.
“Look, I’m not really worried about what the ABs did in those games; I’m just worried about what we’re going to do this week. We have been working, we know what’s coming, we know what the Springboks can do on the scrum. We’ve just been working hard on that and looking forward to the game.”
“Heading the right direction…”
The Wallabies go into Sunday’s game on the back of a five-match unbeaten streak – four wins and a draw. Not since 2021, when current All Blacks head coach Dave Rennie was at the helm, have Australia enjoyed this type of buoyancy in their results.
Tupou suggested that beating Italy, Japan (twice) and Argentina (one win and a draw) was definitely encouraging with a view to next year’s home World Cup, but he wasn’t inclined to dwell on that optimism given what is coming over the hill in Perth this weekend.
“We are heading the right direction,” he said. “Coming off a few good wins and if you want to be competitive next year, this time next year in the World Cup, we have to test ourselves against the best and that’s this weekend, so we go step by step and this week is another step for us.
“It’s not just me, it’s us as a group, as a forward pack. Obviously, I can’t go out there and do it on my own, so I have to rely on everybody to do their job and myself to do my job. And you know, it’s a bit different coming against the Springboks.
“Ox (Nche, who is starting on the bench) is such a good scrummager, so strong. So, I have to be on (it). If it’s me or Allan (Alaalatoa) or Zane (Nonggorr) or whoever, they have to be at their best because if you don’t, you know what’s going to happen. So, again, we’ve been working hard on that this week, and hopefully we have a good game on Sunday.
“Oh, man. It’s tough, you know. They [the Springboks] have been doing it for a few years now. They have won the World Cup twice, and you have seen what they’ve done against ABs because of their set-piece.
“They’ve got a good mix of experience and those guys you know at the back doing what they do. For us as forwards we sort of just focus on ourselves.”
Tupou’s verdict on the challenge confronting the Wallabies received the seal of approval from Tom Donnelly, their forwards and set-piece coach. “He’s dead right,” he enthused.
“Like, their scrum has been a weapon of theirs for a number of years now. They’re pretty big humans, but also their technique and they’re all scrummaging together as an eight, so massive challenge for us as a forward pack this weekend around the set-piece, scrum and their maul. There is a big challenge coming ahead.
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“A lot of their tactics probably won’t change (no matter what players they pick). We know the scrum’s going to be a big part of the game. We know they’re going to maul, so no matter who they really pick, they’ve got probably two or three packs that are very, very class.
“So, like we said, we will focus on ourselves. We know what we need to do to front up and go there with a bit of an attacking mindset against them.”
There was a feeling that when Tupou debuted for Racing 92 in the French Top 14 last December after agreeing to a two-year deal that his international career was on hold, but a call from Joe Schmidt changed everything.
His golden renaissance has so far amounted to five caps, two as the tighthead starter, and there have been three tries scored, including a double versus Japan in Townsville – in doing so, he became just the second prop in Wallabies history to score two tries in a single match and the first in 95 years.
With Les Kiss now in charge having recently succeeded Schmidt, there is a conversation still to be had about Tupou potentially being available to the Wallabies for the November leg of the Nations Championship. Right now, he is loving being back involved at Test level, especially as he endured a tricky start with club rugby in France.
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“As you get a bit older, you realise that one of these (international) tours, one of these camps could be the last, so it does mean a little bit more. I’m just enjoying it. And no, I haven’t spoken to Les about what the future looks like. I’m hoping this is not the last time. Hopefully I’ll see the team in the UK, so fingers crossed.
“The first few months in France, I sort of struggled. I thought I was going to go there and things will happen for me real quick and it wasn’t. Things are different there, the way they scrum, the way they set up and stuff.
“So, it took me a couple of months to understand how they do things over there. And again, I’m enjoying it. I played some good footy there towards the end, and yeah, it’s good to be back here again too.
“I didn’t think I was going to be back here (in Australia) like around this time of the year. My focus was really just playing well for Racing, and obviously Joe called me a few months ago and asked me if I’m keen to come back and play for the Wallabies.
“I said to him I’ll always put my hands up to represent Australia, and yeah, here I am and hopefully this isn’t the last time.”