'We've got to be careful': Former All Black's warning for Quinn Tupaea
All Blacks midfielder Quinn Tupaea was a shock selection on the left wing for the Chiefs in last Friday’s victory over the Waratahs. With so many injured outside backs in the squad, however, it was a case of ‘needs must’ according to the head coach.
“He’s a midfielder; he’s an All Blacks 12,” Clayton McMillan said after the match. “So we want to get him back in there, we just didn’t have the cattle this week.
“We’ve got four, five of our outside backs either invalided or just couldn’t make the trip. We’ll just check out the bodies tonight and tomorrow and we’ll see where we land. We’ve only got a squad of 27 here so it doesn’t leave us much breathing space.”
Outside backs Shaun Stevenson, Emoni Narawa, Etene Nanai-Seturo, Kaleb Trask and Josh Ioane were all on the injury list heading into the game. While Alex Nankivell had featured on both wings earlier in the season, McMillan opted to use Nankivell at outside centre with Rameka Poihipi given the No 12 jersey for the match, forcing Tupaea onto the left wing.
With Poihipi and Tupaea both specialist second five-eighths, shifting Tupaea to the wing likely generated the least disruption for the side and meant only one player had to feature out of position.
Out of position or not, however, Tupaea had a storming match in the No 11 jersey, racking up two tries and 94 metres with the ball in hand. Come the end of the game, Tupaea was named player of the match.
Despite his impressive performance on the left wing, however, former All Black James Parsons has quelled any suggestions that the 22-year-old should be looking to clock up minutes in that role in order to increase his value to national selectors.
While the All Blacks selected a number of squad members last year who were capable of playing in more than one position, that rarely eventuated, with players instead generally spending the entirety of the campaign specialising in one role. In fact, Luke Jacobson, Ardie Savea, Rieko Ioane and Damian McKenzie were the only players to feature across multiple positions (excluding locks, flankers and wingers who were used in both jerseys within their positions).
“I think we’ve got to be careful,” Parsons said on the latest episode of the Aotearoa Rugby Pod. “We’ve seen it over the last sort of end-of-year tour. [The All Blacks selected] specialist guys [to] focus on that one position.
“They have the ability [to cover multiple positions] – like we’ve seen with Nankivell and now Quinn Tupaea – but I think he just needs to knuckle down early in his international career, just focus on that 12, potentially 13 role, do that really well.”
“Look, if there’s a drastic number of injuries and he has to slip in there then yes, but I don’t think it’ll be coming into the selectors’ minds to put him on the wing. As we’ve seen, it’s pretty hard to pick the squad based on the back three at the moment so I don’t know if he’s quite made the grade for that combo just yet.”
Tupaea is still only in his third season with the Chiefs (somewhat ironically, he was named as an outside back in 2020 despite not playing any matches on the wing) and despite taking the step up to test rugby last season, he very much remains a work in development.
Over on the Chiefs’ other wing on Friday night, Jonah Lowe was also in scintillating form, touching down for four tries. Parsons’ co-panellist on the show, Crusaders halfback Bryn Hall, said that while that kind of impact is always going to attract some attention from the national selectors, Lowe will need to string together some consistent performances before he can upset the apple cart.
“There’s just so much competition in the winger ranks at the moment,” he said. “Jonah Lowe’s been in and around that New Zealand Maori environment as well. He’s played well there and he’s played for Hawke’s Bay in their resurgence, being able to win championships and win games in that competition. But I think it’s just being able to play more consistently and being able to get more games under his belt.
“You look at the likes of Leicester Fainga’anuku … This is is his second year where he’s been playing those kinds of performances like [Lowe] has had in the weekend. But he’s still young. I can imagine there’s still things that he wants to work on in his game but any time you can score four tries, it gets the selectors looking.”
“I think Jonah has actually been playing really well in terms of attack and D,” added Parsons, “but I suppose the one area we know [you are tested] at international level would be that aerial game and being able to win those aerial battles, whether it be from a contestable from the opposition or you chasing a contestable. If we can see more of that in his game then I think he will become a real option.”
Lowe, despite being arguably the Chiefs’ top winger over the past two seasons, has struggled with injuries, limiting him to eight appearances in 2021 and just five to date this season. While he’ll likely be retained on the wing in the Chiefs’ upcoming match with the Reds, Tupaea will likely find himself back in the midfield unless the team’s other outside backs remain crook.
Comments on RugbyPass
Super rugby is struggling but that has little to do with sabbaticals. 1. Too many teams from Aust and NZ - should be 3 and 4 respectively, add in 2 from Japan, 1 possibly 2 from Argentina. 2. Inconsistent and poor refereeing, admittedly not restricted to Super rugby. Only one team was reffed at the breakdown in Reds v H’Landers match. Scrum penalty awarded in Canes v Drua when No 8 had the ball in the open with little defence nearby - ideal opportunity to play advantage. Coming back to Reds match - same scrum situation but ref played advantage - Landers made 10 yards and were penalised at the breakdown when the ref should have returned to scrum penalty. 3. Marketing is weak and losing ground to AFL and NRL. Playing 2 days compared with 4. 4. Scheduling is unattractive to family attendance. Have any franchises heard of Sundays 2pm?
8 Go to commentsAbsolutely..all they need is a chance in yhe playoffs and I bet all the other teams will be nervous…THEY KNOW HOW TO WIN IM THE PLAYOFFS..
2 Go to commentsI really hope he comes back and helps out with some coaching.
1 Go to commentsI think we are all just hoping that the Olympic 7s doesn’t suffer the same sad fate as the last RWC with the officials ruining the spectacle.
1 Go to commentsPersonally, I’ve lost the will to even be bothered about the RFU, the structure, the participants. It’s all a sham. I now simply enjoy getting a group of friends together to go and watch a few games a year in different locations (including Europe, the championship, etc). I feel extremely sorry for the real fans of these clubs who are constantly ignored by the RFU and other administrators. I feel especially sorry for the fans of clubs in the Championship who have had considerable central funding stripped away and are then expected to just take whatever the RFU put to them. Its all a sham, especially if the failed clubs are allowed to return.
9 Go to commentsI’m guessing Carl Hayman would have preferred to have stayed in NZ with benefit of hindsight. Up north there is the expectation to play twice as many games with far less ‘player management’ protocols that Paul is now criticising. Less playing through concussions means longer, healthier, careers. Carter used as the eg here by Paul, his sabbatical allowed him to play until age 37. OK its not an exact science but there is far more expectations on players who sign for Top 14 or Engl Prem clubs to get value for the huge salaries. NZR get alot wrong but keeping their best players in NZ rugby is not one of them. SA clubs are virtually devoid of their top players now, no thanks. They cant threaten the big teams in the Champions Cup, the squads have little depth. Cant see Canes/Chiefs struggling. Super has been great this year, fantastic high skill matches. Drua a fantastic addition and Jaguares will add another quality team eventually. Aus teams performing strongly and no doubt will benefit with the incentive of a Lions tour and a home RWC. Let Jordie enjoy his time with Leinster, it will allow the opportunity for another player to emerge at Canes in his absence.
8 Go to commentsLove that man, his way to despise angry little men is so funny ! 😂
4 Go to comments“South African franchises would be powerhouses if we had all our overseas based players back in situ. We would have the same unbeatable aura the Toulouses, Leinsters or Saracens of this world have had over the last decade or so.” Proof that Jake white does not understand the economics of the game in SA. Players earning abroad are not going to simply come back and represent the bulls. But they might if they have a springbok contract.
22 Go to commentsA lot of fans just joined in for the fun of it! We all admire O'Gara and what he has done for La Rochelle
4 Go to commentsThe RFU will find a way to mess this up as usual. My bet is there will be no promotion into the the Premiership, only relegation into National League One. Hopefully they won’t parachute failed clubs into the league at the expense of clubs who have battled for promotion.
9 Go to commentsWell that’s the contracts for RG and Jordie bought and paid for. Now, what are the chances we can persuade Antoine to hop over with all the extra dosh we’ll have from living at the Aviva & Croke next season…??? 🤑🤑🤑
16 Go to commentsWow, that’s incredible. Great for rugby.
16 Go to commentsYou probably read that parling is going to coach the wallaby lineout but if not before now you have.
14 Go to commentsIf someone like Leo Cullen was in O’Gara’s place I don’t hear Boo-ing. It’s not just that La Rochelle has hurt Leinster and O’Gara is their Irish boss. It’s the needle that he brings and the pantomime activity before the game around pretending that Munster were supporting LaRochelle just because O’Gara is from Cork. That’s dividing Irish provinces just to get an advantage for his French Team. He can F*ck right off with that. BOOOOO! (but not while someone is lying injured)
4 Go to commentsDid the highlanders party too hard before the game? They were the pits.
1 Go to commentsWhat a player! Not long until he’s in the England side, surely?
5 Go to commentsHe seems to have the same aura as Marcus Smith - by which I mean he’s consistently judged as if he’s several years younger than he actually is. Mngomezulu has played 24 times for the Stormers. When Pollard was his age he had played 24 times for South Africa! He has more time to develop, but he has also had time to do some developing already, and he hasn’t demonstrated nearly as much talent in that time as one would expect. If he is a generational talent, then it must be a pretty poor generation.
6 Go to commentsThe greatest Springbok coach of all time is entirely on the money. Rassie and Jacques have given the south african public a great few years, but the success of the springbok selection policy will need to be judged in light of what comes next. The poor condition that the provincial system is currently in doesn’t bode well for the next few years of international rugby, and the insane 2026 schedule that the Boks have lined up could also really harm both provincial and international consistency.
22 Go to commentsJake White is a brilliant coach and a master in the press. This is another masterclass in media relations and PR but its also a very narrow view with arguments that dont always hold water. White wants his team to win, he wants the best players in SA and wants his team competitive. You however have to face up to the reality of a poor exchange rate and big clubs with big budgets. SA Rugby cant compete and unless it can find more money SA players will keep leaving regardless of Springbok eligibility and this happened in 2015 - 2017. Also rugby is not cricket. Cricket has 3 formats and T20 cricket is where the money is at. When it comes to club vs country the IPL is king but that wont happen because the international calendar does not clash with the club calendar in rugby. So the argument about rugby going down the same path as cricket is really a non-starter
22 Go to commentsNZ rugby seem not to have learnt anything from professional rugby. Super rugby was dying and SA left before they died with the competition. SA rugby did a u turn on their approach to international players playing overseas and such players are now selected for Bok teams. As much as each country would love to retain their players playing in local competitions, this is the way the world is evolving my friends. Move with it or stay 20 years behind the times. One more thing. NZ rugby hierarchy think they are the big cheese. Take a more humble approach guys. You do not seem to have your players best interests at heart.
8 Go to comments