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Is the 'Tongan Thor' truly ready for Test rugby?

27th September, 2018
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Roar Rookie
27th September, 2018
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Few rugby players have public nicknames. One of World Rugby’s favourites, the ‘Honey-Badger’ is currently trying to find love on Channel Ten, but we’re not quite at the NBA level yet where seemingly everyone who makes a three needs to have a catchy handle.

As fan-made monikers go, ‘The Tongan Thor’ is right up there.

Having been selected to start in gold for the first time this weekend against the Springboks, we’ll finally get to see if Taniela Tupou has graduated from online prop persona to test-ready bookend.

Tupou’s hype train has been steadily gaining steam this year, the promise shown in his famous YouTube clips finally translating to the professional game after some early-career struggles.

I was a massive advocator for Thor during those harder periods, but now, I often wonder if the hype-train is threatening to go off the rails.

It seems Tupou’s performances are now not even allowed to be criticised. We all know he’s a tank with the ball in his hands and destructive in the scrum, but for the benefit of balance, I do want to point out something.

Tupou gets tired very quickly. In his time coming off the bench as a Wallaby, Tupou has been regularly gassed after 15 minutes, sometimes less.

Rugby-twitter erupted in praise for Tupou after his performance against the Springboks at the start of the month, but really he was poor in that game.

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As the Boks came back in the closing moments, Tupou could be seen walking around in defence, already out of puff after his quarter of an hour. How on Earth is he supposed to last even the first-half in Port Elizabeth?

The Tongan Thor is a Lamborgini. Fast, powerful and fun to watch in full-flight but without the petrol-tank to last the full journey and Michael Cheika knows it too.

Why else would he have decided to pick two tighthead props on the bench, again? Sekope Kepu and Allan Alaalatoa have shared the starting number-three jersey in 2018, yet recently both have been covering loosehead for the Wallabies to accommodate Tupou.

My guess is because if the starting tighthead, either Kepu or Alaalatoa went down early in the game, the Wallabies needed the other on the bench, knowing Tupou may not last the rest of the way.

Taniela Tupou Reds running against the Rebels

(Credit: Sportography/QRU)

Tom Robertson showed in the Ireland series that he’s a worthy Wallaby, so why has he been exiled from Cheika’s 23s recently? For me, it’s because of Tupou’s stamina issues.

When tired, Tupou can become lazy at scrum time and ineffectual in attack. Alaalatoa and Kepu are less flashy, but they do their job far more consistently.

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The Tongan Thor is a special talent, and no doubt Aussie fans will be excited to see him running out as a starter this weekend. I just hope he proves me wrong and goes the distance.

I’m not alone in thinking Cheika’s needs at least one win on tour to keep his job, and picking Tupou is an easy decision for the Wallabies Head Coach, given the clamour for his inclusion.

Time will tell if Tupuo flourishes and starts a new path towards superstardom. I’m not convinced just yet.

Saturday will go a long way to showing if the ‘Tongan Thor’ is ready to be the Wallabies scrum-anchor for the future and the present.

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