Rebels coach Dave Wessels takes aim at Reds prop Taniela Tupou

Melbourne Rebels coach Dave Wessels says his team is happy to have a fair contest with Reds powerhouse Taniela Tupou.

Taniela Tupou is the most penalised man in Super Rugby AU. Picture: Getty Images

In one respect, Melbourne Rebels coach Dave Wessels is 100 per cent correct. Queensland Reds tighthead Taniela Tupou is the most penalised man in Super Rugby AU. But in another, he could scarcely be more wrong.

Tupou has indeed got most penalties against him, along with fellow Wallabies prop Scott Sio of the Brumbies — 15 in all. Yet the only reason this stat has come to light is that Tupou’s scrummaging has again been called into question, with Brumbies coach Dan McKellar and captain Allan Alaalatoa claiming they were dealt with harshly against the Reds last weekend, that Tupou was deliberately collapsing the scrum.

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So, when asked for his opinion on Tupou’s scrummaging, Wessels was very much speaking with Saturday’s qualifying final against the Reds at Suncorp Stadium in mind when he responded by raising the issue of the Tongan Thor’s disciplinary record.

“Everybody knows Taniela Tupou is the most penalised guy in Super Rugby in 2020,” Wessels began.

“Taniela is a very good player and when he does things legally and right we’re happy to have a fair contest with him, that’s all we’re asking for.”

Indications are he is legal and right at scrum time. Tupou may have given away 15 penalties, but only three were for his scrummaging. There were another five for offside, four for foul play — he was particularly bad at bowling over Will Harrison and Jack Maddocks after they had got their kicks away — two were for ruck infringements and one in the maul.

By comparison, 12 of the 15 penalties Sio conceded were in the scrum. Indeed, props dominated the “most penalised list” and, unlike Tupou, all the other leading offenders conceded at least 50 per cent of their penalties at the set piece: Kieran Longbottom (Force) 14 (9 in the scrum), Tom Robertson (Waratahs), 11 (9), Harry Johnson Holmes (Waratahs) 11 (7), Pone Fa’amausili (Rebels) 10 (5), Cameron Orr (Rebels) 10 (6), Alaalatoa (Brumbies) 10 (6) and Jermaine Ainsley (Rebels) 8 (6).

What makes those statistics particularly revealing is that Tupou has played 80 minutes in virtually every match this year. It was, indeed, a most unusual moment when coach Brad Thorn decided to give him an early night and tossed Ruan Smith into the fray at the 51-minute mark against the Brumbies last Saturday. Yet for virtually every one of those other props, 51 minutes would represent a regular shift and maybe some overtime.

Yet Wessels was not the only coach indulging in a little hyperbole yesterday. Thorn, too, had a captive audience as he recalled his tensest match.

The 2011 World Cup final, surely? Or one of the many Super Rugby finals he played, perhaps even the one he played against the Reds earlier that same year. Or one of his four NRL title wins with the Broncos? Or a State of Origin thriller? No, the match he got himself most worked up over was his under-11 junior rugby league final, Norths-Aspley v Wests Mitchelton. “I was so nervous,” he recalled. “I wanted to win.”

Needless to say, he did. “The occasion might be bigger but it doesn’t actually change.”

Thorn also concedes the thoughts of supercoach Wayne Bennett have resonated with him this week. “Wayne Bennett always said the hardest thing’s getting to a final, not actually the final itself,” Thorn said.