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Taniela Tupou's humble response after outmuscling Georgia
Prop Taniela Tupou has vowed his best is yet to come after a rousing performance to help the Wallabies open their Rugby World Cup campaign with a win.
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Tupou was the standout forward in Australia’s 35-15 win over Georgia which ended their five-game losing streak and gave Wallabies fans some hope of the team going deep at the France tournament.
Touted by coach Eddie Jones as the future No.1 prop in the world, Tupou showed off his array of skills.
He dominated the strong Georgian scrum and demonstrated the incredible athleticism for which he’s renowned despite his 135kg frame.
Tupou was gifted a loose Georgian pass and took off downfield at Stade de France before throwing a long ball for fullback Ben Donaldson to score.
“I thought I had it,” Tupou said.
“I was hoping I was 10 metres ahead and I think if I dummied and kept going I would have had it.
“I am just as happy that I set up someone else. I was hoping he scored because I was tired.”
The 27-year-old said he and the entire Wallabies outfit could take their game to another level when they faced Fiji in their next pool match in Saint-Etienne next Monday (AEST).
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“My body is 100 per cent, my lungs are not,” Tupou said.
“I feel good. A few more games and the body will adjust. It’s so hot out there, man.
“To be honest, I came into this game very nervous. I thought we did well against France last week and the expectation was to do well against Georgia.
“Everybody wants to win but with the young team we have, we are trying to put together a winning combination while the players are getting used to each other.”
Asked about his coach’s belief that he could be the world’s best, Tupou said he initially wasn’t even sure Jones would want him at the World Cup.
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He ruptured his achilles playing Ireland last year and was in a race against time to make the tournament.
“I don’t know how to take those compliments to be honest,” Tupou said.
“I’ll just keep my head down and keep working hard, and hopefully, I’ll end up there one day. There’s so many in front of me.
“I didn’t know anything about Eddie and I was real nervous, scared – I don’t know what he’s like and whether I was his type of player.
“All I had to do was keep working hard and hopefully come back in and earn my spot in the team. I was lucky he saw something in me.”
Comments on RugbyPass
Let’s not forget about Ardie Savea just yet.
4 Go to commentsThe URC and the Euro Championscup can’t run at the same time, basically dilutes both competitions.
1 Go to comments“While Sotutu should start at No.8 for the All Blacks against England, but it’s only in that arena that he can prove just how good he really is.” And that my friends is where simply hasnt shone despite multiple opportunities. Even in this performance you can see what did him in in the test arena..he almost always still runs at the opposition almost ramrod upright making him easier to stop than it should be.
4 Go to commentsShould have been 0-0 and a message from SR CEO to both teams - “don’t worry about turning up next year”.
4 Go to commentsGreat work Owen Franks. A great of this team, scoring his first try for the Crusaders since 2010.He was beaming, justifiably. A fine win, he and the rest did the job up front.
1 Go to commentsDanny Care. Lang in die tand.
1 Go to commentsBig empty stadium does nothing for atmosphere but munster are playing well with solid performance
1 Go to commentsYes, Fiji can win the World Cup! With that belief plus their christian faith🙏 and hard work it is achievable. Great article. Ian Duncan Fiji resident 1981-84
2 Go to commentsInteresting comments about Touch. England’s hosting the Touch World Cup this year and the numbers have exploded since their last World Cup in 2019, something like 70% more teams and 40 nations taking part. And England Touch have made a big thing about how many universities are in their BUCS University Touch Championship as well as Sport England membership. Can only see this growing even more domestically as more people become aware of it
10 Go to comments“Cortez Ratima is light years ahead of anyone on current form, while TJ Perenara has also skyrocketed into contention following the unfortunate injury to the talented Cam Roigard.” At last some sanity. Hitherto so many pundits have been wittering on about Finlay Christie to the point one wondered if they were observing a FC in a parallel universe where the FC they saw wasnt just the mediocre Shayne Philpott project of Fosters hapless AB reign in the real world. Ratima, Perenara and Fakatava are the ONLY logical 9s for Razor now Roigard is crocked.
4 Go to commentsThis game was just as painful as the Hurricanes game. It was real fork-in-the-eye stuff.
4 Go to commentsNow if they could just fire the Crusaders ground PA guy who likes to play his dance music and just loves the sound of his own voice the entire game, even when play is going on. And I thought their brass band thing of a few years ago was bad.
5 Go to commentsUnfortunately when you lose by far the two form players this season in Roigard and Aumua, you're left replacing two game changing Tanks with a couple of pea-shooters. Which is also about the speed of TJs pass.
4 Go to commentsBit rich coming from the guy with zero loyalty to anyone or any team, including happily taking a players place in a league world cup squad because well, SBW wanted to play in it and thus an already named player got told he was no longer going. And airing stuff like this, which may or may not be true, doesn't exactly say you're a stand up guy either SBW. Just looking to keep his name in lights as usual.
38 Go to commentsTamati Tua. …the Taniwha NPC midfielder. Ollie Sapsford, Hawkes Bay NPC midfielder…doing well
4 Go to commentsFiji deserve to be in the rugby championship, fans love seeing the Fijian national team play, the Fijian Drua is a wonderful idea but the players can still be stolen to play for NZ and AUS…
2 Go to commentsThe first concern for this afternoon are wheather forecast…
1 Go to commentsWhy cant I watch Rugby games please?
1 Go to commentsBeautiful shot from Finau, end of story. Gutted for Shaun Stevenson though.
4 Go to commentsThe Chiefs definitely didn’t win ugly. They had the superior scrum, a dominant lineout, and their defence was excellent once the Waratahs scored their two tries (thanks to some lucky refereeing calls mind you). They put pressure on the Waratahs lineout throughout the game, and the mind boggles as to why the referee did not award a yellow card or a penalty try against the Waratahs for repeated scrum infringements on their own try line before Narawa’s first try. And the Chiefs were slick with their passing and running angles on attack. It was a dominant performance all round, even with many questionable refereeing decisions.
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