Waratahs sign All Black star's brother as one of two new recruits
The Waratahs have signed the younger brother of All Blacks star Patrick Tuipulotu as one of two new recruits ahead of the 2022 Super Rugby Pacific season.
The New South Wales franchise have picked up Hamdan Tuipulotu on an Extended Development Squad contract to help bolster the squad’s stocks at tighthead prop following injuries in their front row.
“We had some unforeseen personnel losses at prop and needed to strengthen our squad in that area,” Waratahs head coach Darren Coleman said via a press release on Friday.
“We liked what we saw from Hamdan and worked hard with Western Sydney Two Blues to bring him across to Sydney.
“We view Hamdan as a project player for the future and feel he will contribute strongly to not only our program but also the Western Sydney Two Blues and their resurgence in the Shute Shield.”
Tuipulotu – who six years younger than Patrick, the 41-test All Blacks lock currently on sabbatical in Japan with Toyota Verblitz – said the opportunity to join the Waratahs was a significant one in his budding professional career.
“The Waratahs are a world-class team and I’m excited to be here. It was definitely an opportunity that I couldn’t pass up,” he said.
“From the outside looking in, the last few years seemed tough, but there’s so much potential here and a great coaching staff and I can’t wait to see what we can do on the field.”
Tuipulotu is one of two Kiwi players called upon by the Waratahs on the eve of the new Super Rugby Pacific campaign, with Hawke’s Bay and ex-Hurricanes lock Geoff Cridge also joining the Sydney-based side for the upcoming season.
Cridge, a former New Zealand U20 representative, spent five seasons with the Hurricanes between 2015 and 2019, but only managed one appearance against the Southern Kings in 2016 as injuries plagued him throughout his time in Wellington.
However, the 26-year-old second rower impressed Coleman from afar while playing for Hawke’s Bay in New Zealand’s NPC.
“Obviously I’m massive fan of the Shute Shield and it will always be my first port of call for talent,” Coleman said.
“However, it’s been no secret that within this team we have been on the lookout to find a high-quality tight head lock, and unfortunately we were unable to find one there.
“Geoff Cridge comes to us from New Zealand where he’s performed strongly over the past two seasons with Hawke’s Bay in the NPC.
“He fits the type of player we need at the tight head lock position, bringing plenty of size and experience, and we’re excited to see him compete with the guys we have here in Jed Holloway, Max Douglas, Jeremy Williams and Hugh Sinclair.
“We’re also delighted that he’s decided to choose West Harbour as his Shute Shield club, where he will be a real asset to their rugby program.”
Cridge added that he is eager to return to Super Rugby following a string of frustrating campaigns that have denied him the chance to realise his lofty potential.
“The last two years I’ve had off I’ve had an itch to play Super Rugby, so to get another chance here at the Waratahs is something I’m definitely going to make the most of,” he said.
“There’s a good group of lads here, everyone gets around each other and stays really connected. No-one is bigger than the team and it’s a great environment to be a part of and I can’t wait for the season to start.”
Both players join the Waratahs on the back of a horror 2021 season where they went winless in both Super Rugby AU and Super Rugby Trans-Tasman.
The Waratahs will be aiming to change their fortunes this year, with their season scheduled to begin when they host the Fijian Drua at CommBank Stadium in Parramatta on February 18.
Comments on RugbyPass
Why 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.
1 Go to commentsWasnt late. Ref 2 assistants andTMO all saw it so who are you to say it was?
4 Go to commentsAre the Brumbies playing the Blues twice in a row?
4 Go to commentsBig difference from the Saders. Forwards really muscled up and laid a solid platform. Scooter brought some steel and I liked the loosie combination. Newell has been rather disappointing this season but stepped up big time - happy also to see Franks dot down. He should do that more often! Reihana had a good game and there seems to be more flair and invention with him in the saddle. McNicoll plays well from the back and is reliable plus inventive when he joins the line. Keep it up chaps!
3 Go to comments🤦♂️🤣 who cares who’s the best . All I know is the All Blacks have the star coach but have few star players now …
30 Go to commentsJe suis sûr que Farrell est impatient de jouer avec Lopez et Machenaud et d’être entraîné par Collazo… 🤭
1 Go to commentsAn on field red (aka a full red) in SRP must surely carry a bigger suspension than a red card given by the bunker as that carries a 20 minute team punishment. Had Damon Murphy abdicated his responsibility as a ref and issued both Drua players a yellow, which would have been upgraded to a 20 minute red by the bunker, that would have killed Australia and New Zealand’s push for the 20 minute red to be trialled globally from July this year.
11 Go to commentsEver so often you all post a Danny Care story that isn’t the announcement that he has finally re-signed for one more, victory tour season at Quins and I’m just like, “well you fooled me again!” My absolute favorite player ever, we need to make his final year at the Stoop (and Twickers) official already. I know he supposedly snubbed France but I won’t feel better until he signs.
1 Go to commentslate hit what late hit it wasn’t at all late and can clearly see he was committed before the tackle
4 Go to commentsChristian Lio -Willies 2 try perfomance was a standout. As was captain Scott Barrett. Up front was where the boys won it.They are a great team and players. Fantastic Crusaders , you can keep going.
3 Go to commentsI don't know how the locals feel about that? I guess if you call yourselves the Worcester Wasps that might be appease. But really we need more teams in the Premiership in my view so they are not padding it out as they are at the moment. It might curtail so many players going abroad as well
5 Go to commentsNZ 😭😭😭is certainly rivaling England for best whingers cup!😭😭😭 !!!
30 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
30 Go to commentsShould'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.
30 Go to comments