Taniela Tupou is on the verge of wasting his God-given talent
By Paul Cully
The Wallabies need Taniela Tupou to wake up. In fact, the whole of Australian rugby needs the big man to wake up from his slumber.
In sporting terms, Tupou has effectively been in hibernation this year. He coasted his way through Super Rugby Pacific for the Melbourne Rebels, clearly unfit, and has apparently made little progress in improving his conditioning.
Tupou got through 36 minutes against Argentina last week, almost to the minute about half of what All Blacks tight-head Tyrel Lomax was asked to do in the far more demanding Test against the Springboks in Cape Town.
That’s just one reason why Tupou isn’t within cooee of being in the top three No.3s in the world – Lomax, Frans Malherbe and Tadhg Furlong are way ahead of him.
In fact, Tupou mightn’t even be in the top five at the moment, which is a huge underachievement given his God-given talent. At 28, Tupou should be using his incredible physique to be the best tight-head prop in the world, an almost unplayable force in the scrums.
He should be putting the fear of God into the British and Irish Lions, rather than former players ridiculing the Wallabies in podcasts this week. And, for his reported $1 million-a-year salary, he should be giving Rugby Australia a bit more bang for its precious buck.
Taniela Tupou played just 36 minutes in the Wallabies’ record capitulation to Argentina, but they’d be worse off without him.Credit: Getty Images
There have been plenty of people who have tried to get the best out of him, and with the benefit of hindsight it’s easier to see why the Reds employed the rather blunt method of playing him for big minutes each week. Tupou has obviously had a serious injury setback to overcome as well, the ruptured Achilles tendon he suffered against Ireland in late 2022. But rugby is full of stories of players coming back from horrible injuries: the brilliant Springbok Pieter-Steph du Toit almost had to have a leg amputated and has come back from two ACL injuries, the second of which led to his father donating a tendon so his son could play again.
But at some point it has to be pointed out that the only person who can help Tupou is Tupou himself. All the trainers and strength and conditioning advice in the world is never going to make a player fit if his habits away from the gym aren’t good enough, or he simply isn’t putting in the work he needs to.
The most obvious comparison with Tupou is Tamaiti Williams, the All Blacks loose head who, coincidentally will likely butt heads with Tupou in the first Bledisloe Test in Sydney next week.
Williams had so much natural size and ability he became a Super Rugby champion with the Crusaders even though he had barely scratched the surface of his talent.
It wasn’t until he got into All Blacks camp last year that the now 24-year-old apparently had a road to Damascus-type moment with his fitness levels. The Williams who will play next week must be about 15 kilograms lighter than he was just two years ago: I think he’ll start against the Wallabies, with Ethan de Groot still short of game time after returning from a neck injury.
Tamaiti Williams’ remarkable turnaround offers hope for Tupou, though time is not on his side.Credit: AP
The worry with Tupou is that his habits may now be too deeply ingrained to complete a Williams-like turnaround; he will be 29 by the time the Lions arrive in Australia next year. Tupou is not a kid any more.
A secondary concern is that he doesn’t currently have a rival pushing him for the jersey. As much as it is disappointing to see him leave the paddock in the first half of Tests, there is no way that the Wallabies can start a Test without him.
Their scrummaging drops alarmingly when he isn’t on the field, as he would well understand. As a result, there’s not enough jeopardy for Tupou. His lack of fitness is not being punished at the selection table because of the lack of alternatives.
It’s a difficult situation for Australian rugby to find itself in, and one that can’t go on indefinitely. If Tupou does not deliver for the Waratahs next year it might be time to cut him loose, hopefully to be picked up by an overseas club where tough love will be administered, getting him back to his best and available for the Wallabies as an overseas selection.
Watch all the action from The Rugby Championship with every match streaming ad-free, live and on demand on Stan Sport.