Rising star Quinn Tupaea is the missing piece for Super Rugby's most exciting backline
While the popularity and exposure of the Mitre 10 Cup may have experienced a seismic shift in recent years, the competition remains a vital proving ground for emerging players and can act as a crystal ball when it comes to identifying the next wave of talent.
In special cases, the identification of a future star doesn’t require such clairvoyance. Take one look at Waikato centre Quinn Tupaea and it’s clear that he is destined to make an impact on the field for years to come.
Tupaea has emerged from an impressive crop of rookies and helped take Waikato to the top of the Championship log in his first Mitre 10 Cup season.
The 19-year-old has nailed down a starting spot in the Mooloo midfield in his first year out of high school, proving impossible to keep from the pitch and forging a formidable partnership with club stalwart Dwayne Sweeney as the side fight for promotion.
Like most things, it seems, the former New Zealand Schools captain has found stepping up to the Mitre 10 Cup easy.
“I’ve found the transition quite easy actually,” Tupaea told RugbyPass after Waikato’s win over Southland last week.”The boys have been really welcoming. Dwayne Sweeney’s taken me under his wing – kind of the apprentice and the pro there. It’s good learning from him.”
On the field, the hard-running Tupaea often looks like a man among boys, while the opposite is closer to the truth. A late call-up for the New Zealand U20 side earlier this year, Tupaea has started all but one of Waikato’s nine matches, cementing himself in the No. 13 jersey during the side’s current six-match winning streak – the best run in the competition.
Where Tupaea separates himself on the park is with ball in hand.
“I try to back my running game and barking the boys around the park,” Tupaea said. “Still a lot of work-ons. I’ve played a couple of good games.”
Through nine games the young midfielder has been one of the hardest players for the opposition to bring down. Tupaea is carving off an impressive 13 metres with each carry, has beaten 26 defenders and has broken the line 14 times. He has also scored six tries – including doubles against Bay of Plenty and Northland – and set up two more.
Waikato assistant coach and former All Blacks wing Roger Randle rates Tupaea’s powerful running game, but was sure to establish that his young star is far from one-dimensional.
“His strength is his running,” Randle said. “He’s got a great running game, good late feet, strong ball carrier and his passing game is improving really well.”
“He’s adding a kicking game, having the confidence to add some kicking in there as well to get that triple threat.”
While rampaging runs often steal the headlines, Tupaea’s willingness to expand his game and improve – as mentioned by Randle – stands out as one of his best traits, and one that will serve him extremely well long term.
“I think it’s just willing to learn, showing up every day, working hard,” Tupaea said. “Just being new, nailing the detail, watching film. I think that helps a lot with my game. Knowing the strengths of the other teams and nailing some details.”
Randle reiterated this in his own assessment.
“He’s doing really well,” Randle said. “The good thing about Quinn, he’s got a great attitude. He’s faced a bit of adversity this year, he missed out on New Zealand U20s – the initial team – but his attitude to try and improve is just outstanding.”
“He’ll become a professional player for a number of years because his attitude’s really good”.
Perhaps Tupaea’s best performance of the season came in the side’s week eight matchup against Northland. A 71-28 rout in Whangarei, Tupaea flashed several areas of his game as he racked up 151 run metres – somewhat inflated by an impressive 95-metre intercept try – made two clean breaks and scored two tries.
His work on the other side of the ball didn’t go unnoticed, as he led Waikato’s backline in the No. 12 jersey with 10 tackles, missing just one and winning two turnovers in the victory.
The next logical step for Tupaea is Super Rugby, where he may be able to solve the Chiefs’ midfield mystery. Randle sees him making an immediate impact wherever he ends up.
“He’s growing really well,” Randle said. “He should be involved with some Super [Rugby] team next year. Whoever that is, he’s ready to go straight away.”
Tupaea is hoping to get an opportunity with his hometown Chiefs, an opportunity he will grab with both hands should it present itself.
The Chiefs have a void in the midfield following the departures of incumbents Johnny Fa’auli and Charlie Ngatai, with All Black Anton Lienert-Brown searching for a new midfield running mate.
The eventual addition of Tupaea would give the Chiefs – already one of New Zealand’s most talented sides – one of the best young backlines in the competition.
They already field current All Blacks Te Toiroa Tahuriorangi, Damian McKenzie and the aforementioned Lienert-Brown, all of whom are still just 23 years old and possess a wealth of knowledge and experience that a young player like Tupaea could benefit from. Throw in the likes of Brad Weber and Solomon Alaimalo and you have one of the most exciting teams to watch in the near future.
Tupaea shapes as a long-term solution in a Chiefs midfield packed with potential, but don’t be shocked if he makes an impact at the next level sooner rather than later.
As Randle said, he’ll be ready to go straight away and won’t be afraid to run straight and hard through the rest of the competition.
In other news:
Comments on RugbyPass
We’re building a bridge but can't agree where the river is.
2 Go to commentsfirst no arms shoulder or helmet tackle into his rib cage is going to be so very painful even to watch. go back to RU mate.
1 Go to commentsBulls by 5. Plus another 50.
3 Go to commentsJohan Goosen avatar. Cute. Surely someone at RP knows how to do a google image search?
3 Go to commentsCan’t these games play a little earlier? Asking for a friend.
3 Go to commentsIt’s impressive that we can see huge stadiums with attendance in the 40 000 to 50 000 region. It shows how popular this competition is becoming. What is even more impressive is the massive growth in broadcast viewership. The URC is one of the two best leagues in the World, the other being the Top14.
7 Go to commentsChristie is not Sottish, like the majority of the Scotland team.
2 Go to commentsHold the phone, decline over-rated. Is it a one game, dead cat bounce or the real thing? Has the Penney dropped? Stay tuned.
45 Go to commentsTotally deserved win for the Crusaders Far smarter than the Chiefs who seem to be avoiding the basics when it matters Hotham showed them what was missing and Hannah seems a real find - a tad light but that can be fixed over time
8 Go to commentsGreat insight into the performance culture with Sarries and I predict Christie will be a fixture in the Scotland team now for some time to come. However, he is slightly missing his own point around Scotland “being soft” when he cites physicality examples in defence of that slight. The issue is much closer to the example he referenced around feeling off before a game but being told “it doesn’t matter, you can still play well” by Farrell. Until Scotland can get their psyche in that square, they will carry on folding under extreme pressure…
2 Go to comments> We are having to adapt, evolve and innovate more than when we were in Super Rugby where there was only really one style that everybody had to play to gain the most success. Have = able to? Interesting what that one style might be? I thought SA sides still had bad tours now, or at least bad schedule, months away? Those extra few hours flights have to be a killer though, no surprise to see their sides doing so badly at the start of the season each year. I wouldn’t enjoy that unfairness as a supporter.
7 Go to commentsThe problem for NZ, and Aus, is they ripped up the SR model and lost a massive chunk of revenue that hasn’t been replaced. Don’t forget SA clubs went North because they were left with no choice, Argy unceremoniously binned and Japan cast adrift. Now SR wasn’t perfect, far from it, but they’ve jumped into something without an effective plan, so far, to replace what they’ve lost. The biggest revenue potential now lies in Japan but it won’t be easy or quick to unlock, they are incredibly insular in culture as a nation. In the meantime, there is a serious time bomb sitting under SH rugby and if it happens then the current financial challenges will look like a picnic. IF the Boks follow their provincial teams and head north then it’s revenue meltdown. Not guaranteed to happen but the status quo is a very odd hybrid, with the Boks pointing one way and the clubs pointing the other way. And for as long as that remains then the threat is real.
45 Go to commentsI think Etene has had some good tuition, likely while at the Warriors to be a professional that helped his rugby jump, but he was certainly thrown in the deep end way too early. Should have arguably 20 less SR caps, and therefor a way better record that he does at his age, but his development would have been fast tracked by the need to satiate his signing away from league. Again, credit to him and others that he has done it so well. Easy to fall over under that pressure in the big leagues like that but he kept at it when I myself wasn’t sure he was good enough.
1 Go to commentsAwesome story. I wonder what a bigger American (SA) scene might have mean for Brex.
1 Go to comments“Johnny McNicholl and the Crusaders” save a Penney. Who has been in camp this week and showed them how to play?
8 Go to commentsSo, reports of the Crusaders’ demise / terminal decline are perhaps just - slightly - premature/exaggerated…? 🤔 Will we see a deep-dive into that by the estimable Rugbypass scribes, and maybe one or two mea culpas? Thought not.
8 Go to comments1. The Chiefs are rudderless without DMac, which enhances his AB chances 2. Chiefs pack are powderpuffs. The hard men arent there anymore 3. They had their golden title chance last yr and wont threaten this yr. Gone in second round of playoffs.
8 Go to commentsHonestly, why did you have to publish such a foolish article the day they play us? 😂
45 Go to comments> They are not standalone entities. They are linked to an amateur association which holds the FFR licence that allows the professional side to compete in the league. That’s a great rule. This looks like the chicken or egg professional scenario. How long is it going to be before the club can break even (if that is even a thing in French rugby)? If the locals aren’t into well it would be good to se them drop to amateur level (is it that far?). Hope they can reset from this level and be more practical, there will be a time when they can rebuild (if France has there setup right).
1 Go to commentsWhat about changing the ball? To something heavier and more pointed that bounces unpredictably. Not this almost round football used these days.
35 Go to comments