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Quinn Tupaea makes surprise positional shift for Chiefs clash against Waratahs
All Blacks midfielder Quinn Tupaea has made a surprise positional shift for the Super Rugby clash between the Chiefs and Waratahs at AAMI Park in Melbourne on Friday.
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Tupaea has been named on the left wing as one of eight changes made to the starting lineup by Chiefs boss Clayton McMillan following on from his side’s 45-12 win over Moana Pasifika in Hamilton last weekend.
The seven-test All Black takes the place of Etene Nanai-Seturo, a standout at FMG Stadium Waikato four days ago, in the No 11 jersey to create a new outside back trio that includes Jonah Lowe, who slots onto the right wing in place of Shaun Stevenson.
Stevenson (knee) and co-captain Brad Weber (shoulder) were two injury casualties from the Moana Pasifika match, adding to an injury list that also features All Blacks trio Brodie Retallick (thumb), Anton Lienert-Brown (shoulder) and Josh Ioane (ribs).
How long Stevenson and Weber are unavailable for will be determined after visits to specialists later this week, with the latter’s absence allowing youngster Cortez Ratima a second successive starting opportunity at halfback.
The rest of the personnel changes come in the forward pack, which is headlined by an overhauled loose forward trio comprised of All Blacks flanker Luke Jacobson, co-captain Sam Cane and in-form No 8 Pita Gus Sowakula.
All Blacks hooker Samisoni Taukei’aho and loosehead prop Aidan Ross also come into the starting front row, with last week’s starters Bradley Slater and Ollie Norris demoted to the bench.
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Slater and Norris are two of four new faces on the bench, with the others being young halves Xavier Roe and Rivez Reihana, and midfielder Inga Finau, who is in line for his Chiefs debut after having played for the Crusaders earlier this season.
In addition to the squad named to face the Waratahs, the Chiefs will take an additional four players – Atu Moli, Tyrone Thompson Kaylum Boshier and Kaleb Trask – with them to Melbourne, while Mitch Brown will link up with the side after this week’s match.
McMillan is eager to use the Waratahs match as his side’s springboard for the final stretch of the regular season ahead of the playoff series in June.
“We’re focused on growth in our game as there were some things we made progress on during the first half of the competition and some areas that we got exposed,” McMillan said in a statement on Wednesday.
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“We back ourselves to get to a quarter-final and when you get to that point it’s a one-off game. So it’s about finding as much growth as you can between now and then to give yourself a decent chance.”
Kick-off for Friday’s match between the Chiefs and Waratahs is scheduled for 8pm [NZT].
Chiefs team to play Waratahs
1. Aidan Ross
2. Samisoni Taukei’aho
3. Angus Ta’avao
4. Josh Lord
5. Tupou Vaa’i
6. Luke Jacobson
7. Sam Cane
8. Pita Gus Sowakula
9. Cortez Ratima
10. Bryn Gatland
11. Quinn Tupaea
12. Rameka Poihipi
13. Alex Nankivell
14. Jonah Lowe
15. Chase Tiatia
Reserves:
16. Bradley Slater
17. Ollie Norris
18. George Dyer
19. Naitoa Ah Kuoi
20. Samipeni Finau
21. Xavier Roe
22. Rivez Reihana
23. Inga Finau*
Comments on RugbyPass
Should've done this years ago. Change Saturday kick off times to around 11am. Up and off and back home before 3pm, limit travel time too. Allows players to actually do something else with their Saturday that's family oriented or being rugby fans they could ‘watch’ pro rugby. Increases crowds etc. How can anyone that enjoys grassroots and pro rugby have to choose between the two on Saturdays?
9 Go to commentsI bet he inspired those supporters just as much.
1 Go to commentsBen Smith Springboks living rent free in his head 😊😂
67 Go to commentsGood to hear he would like to play the game at the highest level, I hadn’t been to sure how much of a motivator that was before now. Sadly he’s probably chosen the rugby club to go to. Try not to worry about all the input about how you should play rugby Joey and just try to emulate what you do on the league field and have fun. You’ll limit your game too much (well not really because he’s a standard athlete like SBW and he’ll still have enough) if you’re trying to make sure you can recycle the ball back etc. On the other hard, you can totally just try and recycle by looking to offload any and everywhere if you’re going to ground 😋
1 Go to commentsThis just proves that theres always a stat and a metric to use to justify your abilities and your success. Ben did it last week by creating an imaginary competition and now you did the same to counter his argument and espouse a new yardstick for success. Why not just use the current one and lets say the Boks have won 4 world cups making them the most successful world cup team. Outside of the world cup the All Blacks are the most successful team winning countless rugby championships and dominating the rankings with high win percentages. Over the last 4 years statistically the Irish are the best having the highest win rate and also having positive records against every tier 1 side. The most successful Northern team in the game has been England with a world cup title and the most six nations titles in history. The AB’s are the most dominant team in history with the highest win rate and 3 world cups. Lets not try to reinvent the wheel. Just be honest about the actual stats and what each team has been good at doing and that will be enough to define their level of success.
19 Go to commentsHow is 7’s played there? I’m surprised 10 or 11 man rugby hasn’t taken off. 7 just doesn’t fit the 15s dynamics (rules n field etc) but these other versions do.
9 Go to commentsPick Swinton at your peril A liability just like JWH from the Roosters Skelton ??? went missing at RWC
14 Go to commentsLike tennis, who have a ranking system, and I believe rugby too, just measure over each period preceding a world cup event who was the longest number one and that would be it. In tennis the number one player frequently is not the grand slam winner. I love and adore the All Blacks since the days of Ian Kirkpatrick when I was a kid in SA. And still do because they are the masters of running rugby and are gentleman on and off the field - in general. And in my opinion they have been the majority of the time the best rugby team in the world.
19 Go to commentsHaving overseas possessions in 2024 is absurd. These Frenchies should have to give the New Caledonians their freedom.
21 Go to commentsBell injured his foot didn’t he? Bring Tupou in he’ll deliver when it counts. Agree mostly but I would switch in the Reds number 8 Harry Wilson for Swinton and move Rob Valentini to 6 instead. Wilson is a clever player who reads the play, you can’t outmuscle the AB’s and Springboks, if you have any chance it’s by playing clever. Same goes for Paisami, he’s a little guy who doesn’t really trouble the likes of De Allende and Jordie Barrett. I’d rather play Carter Gordon at 12 and put Michael Lynagh’s boy at 10. That way you get a BMT type goalkicker at 10 and a playmaker at 12. Anyways, just my two cents as a Bok supporter.
14 Go to commentsThanks Brett, love your articles which are alway pertinent. It’s a difficult topic trying to have a panel adjudicating consistently penalties for red card issues. Many of the mitigating reasons raised are judged subjectively, hence the different outcomes. How to take away subjective opinions?
9 Go to commentsYes Sir! Surprising, just like Fraser would also have escaped sanction if he was a few inches lower, even if it was by accident that he missed! Has there really been talk about those sanctions or is this just sensational journalism? I stopped reading, so might have missed any notations.
9 Go to commentsAI is only as good as the information put in, the nuances of the sport, what you see out the corner of the eye, how you sum up in a split second the situation, yes the AI is a tool but will not help win games, more likely contribute to a loss, Rugby Players are not robots, all AI can do if offer a solution not the solution. AI will effect many sports, help train better golfers etc.
45 Go to commentsIt couldn’t have been Ryan Crotty. He wasn’t selected in either World Cup side - they chose Money Bill instead. And Money Bill only cared about himself, and that manager he had, not the team.
28 Go to commentsYawn 🥱 nobody would give a hoot about this new trophy. End of the day we just have to beat Ireland and NZ this year then they can finally shut up 🤐
19 Go to commentsTalking bout Ryan Crotty? Heard Crotty say in a interview once that SBW doesen't care about the team . He went on to say that whenever they lost a big game, SBW would be happy as if nothing happened, according to him someone who cares would look down.. Personally I think Crotty is in the wrong, not for feeling gutted but for expecting others 2 be like him… I have been a bad loser forever as it matters so much to me but good on you SBW for being able to see the bigger picture….
28 Go to commentsThis sounds like a WWE idea so Americans can also get excited about rugby, RUGBY NEEDS A INTERNATIONAL CALENDER .. The rugby Championship and Six Nations can be held at same time, top 3 of six nations and top 3 of Rugby championship (6 nations should include Georgia AND another qualifying country while Fiji, Japan and Samoa/Tonga qualifier should make out 6 Southern teams).. Scrap June internationals and year end tours. Have a Elite top six Cup and the Bottom 6 in a secondary comp….
19 Go to commentsThe rugby championship would be even stronger with Fiji in it… I know it doesen’t fit the long term plans of NZ or Aus but you are robbing a whole nation of being able to see their best players play for Fiji…. Every second player in NZ and AUS teams has Fijian surnames… shame on you!!! World rugby won’t step in either as France and England has now also joined in…. I guess where money is involved it will always be the poor countries missing out….
90 Go to commentsNo surprise there. How hard can it be to pick a ball off the ground and chuck it to a mate? 😂
4 Go to commentsSometimes people just like a moan mate!
9 Go to comments