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Taniela Tupou lights fuse on 2nd Test with remarks about Ellis Genge
Taniela Tupou has lit the fuse for a thunderous collision with Ellis Genge when Australia face England in Saturday’s second Test by revealing they will be united by a mutual desire to “smash” their rival.
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Dubbed the ‘Tongan Thor’, the bulldozing 21 stones 4lbs Tupou has been restored to the Wallabies’ front row after missing the 30-28 victory in the series opener because of a calf injury.
It sets up an explosive head to head with Genge, the combative England prop who will set the emotional intensity for Eddie Jones’s tourists at Suncorp Stadium.
“It’s not personal, but it is personal. I will do what is best for the team but when you get out there you want to be better than your opposition,” Tupou said.
“Ellis Genge is going to come out there and try to give it to me and smash me. I will do exactly the same thing. I want to give it to him. We will see what happens out there.
“I have heard a lot of talk about him. I saw him absolutely kill it in the English comp with his team and he has captained his side.
“As a loosehead, he can run the ball, he can tackle and he can scrum. This week if he is starting, it will be the first time I have played him. It will be a big challenge but I need to focus on myself and what I can do.”
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Tupou’s bulldozing carrying has been a feature of Wallabies highlights reels, but coach Dave Rennie insists any tackle-busting runs are considered as a welcome addition to his core responsibility.
“Taniela can certainly carry. He’s got good footwork and he’s amazingly explosive for a big man. He can hike,” Rennie said.
“The scrum is the big thing. He hasn’t played a lot of rugby lately. We want really good set piece from him initially and anything else will be a bonus. If he can give us some go forward and quicker ball, that will help.”
Tupou is one of five changes made by Australia for the second Test, all of them enforced by injury or suspension.
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Second row Matt Philip replaces Darcy Swain, who has been banned for two weeks after head butting Jonny Hill at Optus Stadium.
Centre Hunter Paisami, wing Tom Wright and full-back Jordan Petaia are also drafted into the starting XV with Australia wearing their First Nations jersey for the first time this year.
Rennie has braced his Wallabies for niggle from England after believing they deliberately targeted Swain in the first Test, primarily through Hill who shoved his lock rival in the face early in the match.
“The officials will be pretty sharp around it. It was surprising that the first offence, the push in the face that was pretty aggressive, wasn’t seen by any of the officials,” Rennie said.
“If it had been I think it would have been dealt with and Darcy wouldn’t have been facing the judiciary. Everyone’s awareness around that is a little sharper now.”
Australia team to face England at Suncorp Stadium, Brisbane, on Saturday July 9, KO 10:55 BST:
J Petaia, T Wright, H Paisami, S Kerevi, M Koroibete, N Lolesio, N White, A Bell, D Porecki, T Tupou, M Philip, C Neville, R Leota, M Hooper (capt), R Valetini.
Replacements: F Fainga’a, S Sio, J Slipper, N Frost, P Samu, J Gordon, J O’Connor, I Perese.
Comments on RugbyPass
Well that’s the contracts for RG and Jordie bought and paid for. Now, what are the chances we can persuade Antoine to hop over with all the extra dosh we’ll have from living at the Aviva & Croke next season…??? 🤑🤑🤑
2 Go to commentsWow, that’s incredible. Great for rugby.
2 Go to commentsYou probably read that parling is going to coach the wallaby lineout but if not before now you have.
14 Go to commentsIf someone like Leo Cullen was in O’Gara’s place I don’t hear Boo-ing. It’s not just that La Rochelle has hurt Leinster and O’Gara is their Irish boss. It’s the needle that he brings and the pantomime activity before the game around pretending that Munster were supporting LaRochelle just because O’Gara is from Cork. That’s dividing Irish provinces just to get an advantage for his French Team. He can F*ck right off with that. BOOOOO! (but not while someone is lying injured)
2 Go to commentsDid the highlanders party too hard before the game? They were the pits.
1 Go to commentsWhat a player! Not long until he’s in the England side, surely?
2 Go to commentsHe seems to have the same aura as Marcus Smith - by which I mean he’s consistently judged as if he’s several years younger than he actually is. Mngomezulu has played 24 times for the Stormers. When Pollard was his age he had played 24 times for South Africa! He has more time to develop, but he has also had time to do some developing already, and he hasn’t demonstrated nearly as much talent in that time as one would expect. If he is a generational talent, then it must be a pretty poor generation.
4 Go to commentsThe greatest Springbok coach of all time is entirely on the money. Rassie and Jacques have given the south african public a great few years, but the success of the springbok selection policy will need to be judged in light of what comes next. The poor condition that the provincial system is currently in doesn’t bode well for the next few years of international rugby, and the insane 2026 schedule that the Boks have lined up could also really harm both provincial and international consistency.
19 Go to commentsJake White is a brilliant coach and a master in the press. This is another masterclass in media relations and PR but its also a very narrow view with arguments that dont always hold water. White wants his team to win, he wants the best players in SA and wants his team competitive. You however have to face up to the reality of a poor exchange rate and big clubs with big budgets. SA Rugby cant compete and unless it can find more money SA players will keep leaving regardless of Springbok eligibility and this happened in 2015 - 2017. Also rugby is not cricket. Cricket has 3 formats and T20 cricket is where the money is at. When it comes to club vs country the IPL is king but that wont happen because the international calendar does not clash with the club calendar in rugby. So the argument about rugby going down the same path as cricket is really a non-starter
19 Go to commentsNZ rugby seem not to have learnt anything from professional rugby. Super rugby was dying and SA left before they died with the competition. SA rugby did a u turn on their approach to international players playing overseas and such players are now selected for Bok teams. As much as each country would love to retain their players playing in local competitions, this is the way the world is evolving my friends. Move with it or stay 20 years behind the times. One more thing. NZ rugby hierarchy think they are the big cheese. Take a more humble approach guys. You do not seem to have your players best interests at heart.
3 Go to commentsBeaches? In Cardiff? Where?
1 Go to commentsHe is right , the Crusaders will be a threat. Scott Barrett, ( particularly), Fergus Burke , Codie Taylor, ( from sabbatical) etc due back soon for the Crusaders. There are others like Zach Gallagher too. People can right the Crusaders off, Top 8 , here we come !!
1 Go to commentsWe will always struggle for money to match the other sides but the least the WRU can do is invest properly in Welsh rugby. Too much has been squandered on vanity projects like the hotel and roof walk amongst others which will never see a massive return. Hanging the 4 pro sides out to dry over the last decade is now coming back to bite the WRU financially as well as on the pitch. You reap what you sow.
1 Go to commentsWhat do you get if you cross a doctor with a fish? A plastic sturgeon
14 Go to commentsWhat happened to feleti Kaitu’u? Hasnt played in a while right?
1 Go to commentsGregor I just can’t agree with you. You are trying to find something that just isn’t there. Jordie Barrett has signed until 2028. By the end of that he would have spent probably 11-12 years on Super Rugby and you say he can’t possibly have one season playing somewhere else. It is absurd. What about this scenario, the NZR play hard ball and he decides to leave and play overseas. How would that affect the competition. There seems to be an agenda by certain journalists to push certain agendas and don’t like it when it’s not to their liking. I fully support the NZR on this. Gregor needs to get a life.
3 Go to commentsHope he stays as believe he can do a great job.
1 Go to commentsMake what step up? Manie has a World Cup winner’s medal around his neck and changed the way the Springboks can play. He doesn’t have anything to prove to anyone. The win record of the Boks with him in the team is tremendous. Sacha can be wonderful and I hope he has a very succesful Bok career, but comparing him to Manie in terms of the next Bok flyhalf is very strange. Manie is the incumbent (not the next) and doing pretty incredibly.
4 Go to comments00 😍 U
1 Go to commentsSabbaticals have helped keep NZ’s very best talent in the country on long term deals - this fact has been left out of this article. Much like the articles calling to allow overseas players to be selected, yet can only name one player currently not signed to NZR who would be selected for the ABs. And in the entire history of NZ players leaving to play overseas, literally only 4 or 5 have left in their prime as current ABs. (Piatau, Evans, Hayman, Mo’unga,?) Yes Carter got an injury while playing in France 16 years ago, but he also got a tournament ending injury at the 2011 World Cup while taking mid-week practice kicks at goal. Maybe Jordie gets a season-ending injury while playing in Ireland, maybe he gets one next week against the Brumbies. NZR have many shortcomings, but keeping the very best players in the country and/or available for ABs selection is not one of them. Likewise for workload management - players missing 2 games out of 14 is hardly a big deal in the grand scheme of things. Again let’s use some facts - did it stop the Crusaders winning SR so many times consecutively when during any given week they would be missing 2 of their best players? The whole idea of the sabbatical is to reward your best players who are willing to sign very long term deals with some time to do whatever they want. They are not handed out willy-nilly, and at nowhere near the levels that would somehow devalue Super Rugby. In this particular example JB is locked in with NZR for what will probably (hopefully) be the best years of his career, hard to imagine him not sticking around for a couple more after for a Lions tour and one more world cup. He has the potential to become the most capped AB of all time. A much better outcome than him leaving NZ for a minimum of 3 years at the age of 27, unlikely to ever play for the ABs again, which would be the likely alternative.
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