Eddie Jones’ ‘free pizza’ comment after Taniela Tupou’s two-try haul

Japan coach Eddie Jones has delivered a playful “free pizza” quip at Wallabies prop Taniela Tupou, who burrowed over for two tries in a 56-17 win in Townsville. It’s the first time Tupou has scored in back-to-back games since April 2021, while playing for the Queensland Reds.

Tupou got on the scoresheet for the Wallabies in a 35-32 nail-biter against the Brave Blossoms last weekend, before being named in the starting side for the next Flight Centre Series match at Queensland Country Bank Stadium.

Josh Nasser was first to cross the try line, before Tupou crashed over for five points. But with Japan staying in the first half fight with tries to Harry Hockings, Naoto Saito and Dylan Riley, it was the second effort from Tupou that proved key for the Wallabies.

The tighthead prop’s second try just before the break helped the Wallabies take a 21-17 lead into the sheds, and it was also the start of a 42-point avalanche from the posts. Japan went scoreless during the second term, while the Wallabies added another five tries to their score.

Angus Bell burrowed over in the 50^th minute, seeing all starting front-rowers score for the home side. It’s just the second time in Wallabies history that that’s happened, with Tupou leading the way with an impressive performance.

“It became more significant when they got the weight of possession. We’re now defending for long periods of time. That’s where the collision dominance came through for the Wallabies,” Jones told reporters.

“We’re not a team that can win a game of rugby with 43 per cent of possession. We need 50-plus possession to win and then we become a really dangerous team. We weren’t ablet o do that today.

“The weight of possession went against us and then we were defending for long periods.

“Tupou, he must have thought there was a free pizza every time he scored a try today. I’ll have to go see him after the game. I might take him a pizza in.”

The Brave Blossoms continue to search for their first-ever win over the Wallabies, having fallen  19-15 last October, before losing a three-point thriller last week at home. But as both Jones and captain Warner Dearns touched on, they produced three good halves against the Wallabies.

It was a four-point ballgame when the teams made their way off the park for half-time, before the Wallabies ran away with it in the second term. Japan missed more than 50 tackles and the hosts had 57 per cent possession, including 93 per cent of the ball in the last 10.

Japan now look towards the Pacific Nations Cup on home soil, which starts against the USA in just under one month. Fiji and Canada will face off in the semi-final, before the title decider in Osaka on September 19.

“We’ve played three good halves of rugby against Australia and we got blown away in the second half… I’m not trying to make an excuse but when you’ve got a young team, we’ve got 10 blokes under 10 caps playing today, sustaining that effort when you’re not getting immediate reward is difficult and I think we saw that today,” Jones said.

“It’s a great experience, albeit quite a difficult experience. But sometimes the most difficult experiences are the best experiences.”