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Quinn Tupaea welcomes more starts at 13 for All Blacks ahead of tour
By Ben Smith
All Blacks midfielder Quinn Tupaea welcomes more action at centre for the All Blacks after his breakthrough showing in Perth against the Wallabies.
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The Chiefs midfielder stole the limelight with a two try performance in the last round of the Rugby Championship, his physical runs and explosive plays a highlight. It was regarded by many as the best showing by a centre in the Scott Robertson era.
Ahead of departing for the northern tour, Tupaea said he would “of course” love to play more at 13 should he get the nod against Ireland when the All Blacks play in Chicago.
“Pretty pleased personally how I went there, hadn’t played a lot there at 13. I was pretty nervous throughout the week,” Tupaea told media in Auckland.
“It was good to get that performance under my belt, I haven’t looked back on the game since the Monday after.
“Especially playing in the 13 jersey, it’s one I haven’t played a lot in, haven’t scored too many tries in the black jersey so that’s also a positive.
“I was pretty happy with how our backline connected. I’ve played a lot of rugby with Damian and building that connection with Jordie is pretty important.”
Tupaea was the beneficiary from Jordie Barrett’s grubber kick which the Wallabies failed to recover in wet conditions. An unconventional “header” by Barrett in the contest put the ball ahead and Tupaea was the leading chaser, outgunning the Wallabies cover defence to pull in the ball from a perfect bounce.
“I saw it come off his head, I didn’t see it touch his hands live, so I just carried on with the play,” Tupaea said.
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“There is always a bit of planning to it, we always have a kick strategy. It can come from anyone, whoever is feeling it on the day or seeing space.
“He [Jordie] did a great job finding a bit of room behind the line.”
He scored his second from a quick tap following a line break, using his fend to break through the scrambling defence.
Defensively, Tupaea was sound in the outside channels. Wallabies fullback Max Jorgensen tested the outside channel frequently, to which Tupaea rose to the challenge.
On one occasion he brought down the fullback and combined with Leicester Fainga’anuku to win the breakdown penalty on the isolated ball carrier.
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Tupaea noted the task on defence as the biggest challenge to adjust to from his more regular position at second five-eighth.
“I think you have a lot more time and space [at 13], defensively it is a bit harder, having to defend the outside half of the field compared to 12 where you are tackling a lot of loosies, opposite 12, a bit more traffic coming straight on,” he said.
“That’s something I had to adjust to mentally, always being at 12. It’s a little bit harder defensively at 13 but once the set piece is over it’s just rugby I guess.”
Having fulfilled the role of utility cover over the middle stretch of the Rugby Championship, Tupaea was found on the wing at times.
That didn’t seem to be a problem at Eden Park against the Wallabies, where he busted through multiple defenders.
“I’m happy to play 12, 13 or coming off the bench, having to cover wing as a last resort I guess,” he said of being versatile.
“Wing is a spot I’ve played a little bit at Super Rugby, it’s not a spot I’ve trained during the week. Getting those mental reps is pretty important.”