Taniela Tupou clone, barnstorming prop a part of QLD Reds next-gen side facing the New South Wales Waratahs on Saturday

The Queensland Reds Under-18s Academy team will release a Taniela Tupou clone and a barnstorming prop following in the footsteps of Wallabies prop Zane Nonggorr when they face the Waratahs on Saturday. READ MORE

Lehopa Leota (left) and Kingsley Uys (right) are two players to watch in the Queensland Reds under-18s clash against New South Wales on Saturday afternoon at Ballymore.

A barnstorming prop from The Southport School and a Taniela Tupou clone from Iona College will spearhead the Queensland Reds Academy Under-18s when they butt horns with the NSW Waratahs on Saturday afternoon at Ballymore.

Loosehead prop Kingsley Uys and tighthead Lehopa Leota are the powerhouse frontrow duo that talent spotters clearly have high hopes for after grooming the pair in the esteemed Academy program.

That program has seen TSS old boy Zane Nonggorr progress into the Reds and Wallabies. Year 11 prop Uys, still just 16, is potentially on a similar trajectory if he keeps working hard on his development.

Meanwhile, 17-year-old Iona College school captain Leota is gearing up for another year of highs after the Wynnum Bugs junior prodigy capped off a stellar 2023 with selection in the Australian Schools and Under-18s team.

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KINGSLEY UYS

Kingsley Uys playing for the Reds under-16s team in 2022. Karen Watson

An elite No. 8 turned front rower, Uys turned heads last year playing as a Year 10 student in TSS’s First XV rugby team where we named him to our GPS Team of the Season.

After starring under head coach and ex-Wallaby Tai McIsaac, Uys earned selection in the Reds under-16s side. This year, the Year 11 will play under-18s as an underaged player, but will be one of the biggest and most powerful on any field he steps foot on.

TSS director of rugby Mike Wallace praised Uys’ willingness to change positions from No. 8, the position he wreaked havoc in as a junior, to a position “that was more appropriate to his body shape”.

“He was willing,” Wallace said.

“He has good footwork and ball skills. His body shape lends himself to the front row or back row.

“When he embraced it he realised he could be just as effective using those skills,” Wallace noted.

Wallace said he saw “huge improvements” across the GPS season with McIsaac, the ex-Reds and Force hooker guiding him.

“The big thing about him (Uys) is embracing that willingness to learn,” Wallace said.

“It’s the biggest challenge for all junior footballers who have been dominant in their age groups. He had to embrace the position change, and adjust in order to get better,” Wallace said of Uys, a player who developed early.

Surfers Paradise Dolphins junior Kingsley Uys (middle) in 2021. On his left is Keido Goulding, A Reds Academy hooker.

“It would’ve been easy for him to say ‘No I’m good at what I’m doing now’. The reality is he’s embraced his challenge.”

The last prop to have played three years of First XV rugby at TSS was Nonggorr, who will start at prop for the Reds in Saturday’s huge season opener against the Waratahs in Super Rugby Pacific.

Indeed Uys, who is of South African and New Zealand descent, has the inspiration of a similar path being possible.

Kingsley Uys at the 2022 Emerging Reds Cup as a Year Nine student.

LEHOPA LEOTA

Lehopa Leota. Picture: Tom Primmer/QRU.

If the Reds Academy’s front row stocks weren’t already strong enough with Uys and Toowoomba Grammar School alumni Ewald Kruger coming through, the club also had a Taniela Tupou clone progressing rapidly through their ranks - Lehopa Leota.

The Iona College school captain and Wynnum Bugs junior made just about every representative team he could last year, including the Reds under-19s where as a Year 11, he played alongside boys who had graduated from school in 2021.

Around 178cm tall and 125kg of impressive muscle, the quietly-spoken beast from the bayside is the closest thing to the Tongan Thor that Queensland fans can get around now that Tupou is at the Melbourne Rebels.

Humble and quiet off the field but a terror on, Leota is described by Iona College First XV head coach Paul Davey as a gentle giant who caught his eye because of his unselfish nature.

Lehopa Leota in 2023 playing rugby for Iona.

“I had seen him play at Wynnum, he caught my eye. What catches my eye is he’s not a selfish player,” Davey said of Leota who had a stint at Christ’s College, Canterbury before returning to Iona for his final two years of schooling.

“He doesn’t want to hog the ball, he always encourages teammates and wants to shift the ball.

“My first memories of him are, of course, that he was very talented. But he’s a lot more than a big body. He’s a smart rugby player and very respected among his teammates. They admire him, will follow him and respect him deeply.”

In the sheer presence of Leota, you see someone who is a colossal physical character. But the irony is he “speaks humbly and softly”.

“He’s ambitious. His dream is with Queensland and Australia,” Davey affirmed.

“He’s very excited about the opportunities that wearing the Reds jersey gives him.

“It’s not a conversation he will easily lead to. He’s humble. He’s so driven, he trains and works hard,” Davey said in praise of Leota who had an interrupted AIC campaign last season but is “stripped fit” this year.

“We’re going to see his quality of play go to another level of play. He looks a million bucks at the moment. He’s not carrying a shed of weight. He’s powerful, aerobically fit and ready to do some damage,” Davey said.

Iona College's Lehopa Leota running out to play AIC First XV rugby early last year.

“I don’t think I’ve coached a player more driven than him.

“His dedication to training is not just for field sessions but gym and his diet.

“You meet a lot of players with natural talent but Hopo ticks all the boxes around dedication and willingness to make sacrifices.

“If he stays fit and healthy I can’t imagine him not having a pathway to a Queensland jersey and one day a Wallabies jersey.

“I see him as a similar player (to Tupou). We will see the destructive Taniela side (this year).”