Ex-Wallabies highlight Taniela Tupou and Rob Leota’s Waratahs debuts

Former Wallaby Morgan Turinui has reflected on Taniela Tupou’s impressive start to life at the NSW Waratahs, with the tighthead prop among the standouts from the team’s opening-round 37-36 win over the Highlanders at Sydney’s Allianz Stadium.

With the Melbourne Rebels no longer part of Super Rugby Pacific, Tupou made the move north as one of the Waratahs’ new recruits before the 2025 season. Andrew Kellaway, Isaac Kailea, Rob Leota and Darby Lancaster also joined the Sydney-based club from the Rebels.

Tupou only played more than 40 minutes in five of 14 appearances for the Rebels last season, which included six starts during the campaign. It was a similar story at Test level with the prop regularly playing less than 45 minutes as part of a one-two punch with Allan Alaalatoa.

For a player who used to play 70 or even 80 minutes for the Queensland Reds, Tupou’s fitness was called into question last year. But the 28-year-old has hit the ground running to start the Super Rugby season, which bodes well before the upcoming British and Irish Lions Series.

Tupou played 56 minutes for the Tahs on Friday night, which is a game-high for the front-rower dating back to the 2023 Rugby World Cup. The Tahs debutant made a noticeable impact in attack with six carries and a try assist, in defence with five stops, and around the breakdown.

“A different role coming out of the Rebels. He was often a go-to guy to try and carry a bit,’ Turinui said on Stan Sports’ Between Two Posts. “We saw him in the same pod as Angus Bell who’s a very dominant ball carrier so he did a lot more breakdown work.

“He’ll run into some form as he does, he’s a guy that needs a little bit of training but balanced training. I had a good chat with Tom Carter through the week about the training they’ve actually been doing with him, they’ve actually tried to focus on improving him as a footballer, knowing that a lot of the training will get him into form.

“Lots of programs with Taniela have tried to put him on a bike, made him try to win a Tour de France to strip him down and then trained rugby… if he can get consistent, big minutes in games, we know the quality that he has.

“There’s been a flat spot in terms of him improving as a footballer because we’ve been so focused on his physical capacity. I’m looking forward to hopefully Tom Carter having a nice individualised program in place for him to help him.”

Tupou threw an ambitious pass to Leota in the 33^rd minute to send the backrower for the Waratahs’ first try of the new season. While former NRL flyer and Tahs recruit Suaalii was the talk of the town, the crowd was excited to see two other debutants link up.

Siosifa Amona was the hero for the Waratahs with the replacement scoring a 13-minute double late in the piece after replacing Tupou. Amona scored in the 80^th minute to reduce the deficit to just one point, which let Jack Bowen knock over the match-winner from close range.

The Waratahs showed resilience, fight and character as they started their new era under coach Dan McKellar with a confidence-building win at home. While the Tahs are on a bye week now before hosting the Fijian Drua in round three, there’s a lot to take away from this clash.

Rugby World Cup winner Matt Burke echoed Turinui’s focus on Tupou before also reflecting on Leota’s performance in sky blue. Leota was top 10 for carries, ran the ball for more than 20 metres in total, and finished in double digits for tackles completed.

“He got a few minutes as well, didn’t he? He got past that 40-minute mark and came on for probably another 12, 13 so he actually added. We’ve seen him in the past just tick over that 40 [minute mark],” Burke reflected.

“I thought Rob Leota was great on the weekend. He said previously he’s the enforcer to look after those guys in the backs as well as making sure that the team goes forward.

“I thought he did really well. I thought he had good impact when he was on.

“What they did, they did really well… I thought Leota was big enough and did well for the duration of the game.”