As Geoff Parling moved to allay fears next year’s British and Irish Lions series will be a whitewash, the former England international turned Wallabies assistant admits his coaching group is still finding out what makes Taniela Tupou tick.
In many ways, Tupou’s struggles are synonymous with where Australian rugby currently sits.
The 27-year-old has long promised to be one of the most damaging tight-head props in the world, but his brief cameos match the ‘40-minute Wallabies’ the national side has become.
Tupou put his hand up after 35 minutes in Santa Fe and called to be replaced. His early departure raised eyebrows, particularly given he’s the Wallabies’ most expensive player.
At the time, the Wallabies led 20-10 under the hot South American sun.
Minutes later, with Tupou off the field, the Wallabies conceded another try to take a narrow 20-17 lead into half-time. Another seven tries followed in the second-half, with Joe Schmidt’s men failing to turn around the momentum Los Pumas got in the final minutes of the first-half.
Compare Tupou’s effort to that of Tyrel Lomax’s 73-minute performance hours earlier, or Frans Malherbe’s 52 minutes in the same game, and it’s clear the Wallabies aren’t getting bang for their buck.
Taniela Tupou lasted less than 40 minutes against Los Pumas at Brigadier General Estanislao Lopez Stadium on September 7, 2024 in Santa Fe. (Photo by Daniel Jayo/Getty Images)
Nor was Tupou’s surprisingly early departure a one-off, with the former Reds and Rebels prop regularly only playing 30 minutes for Melbourne in his first and only season at the Super Rugby franchise.
His 35-minute effort in Argentina has turned the spotlight on Tupou, whose past two years have been injury plagued, because the wrecking-ball prop has the potential to be one of the few world-class Wallabies.
But turning potential into reality has been the million-dollar conundrum for the Wallabies’ hierarchy – and it’s something Parling said his colleagues were still battling to put their fingers on the best method to bring out his best.
“Look, I think Taniela’s got a huge upside,” said Parling, who coached Tupou at the Rebels in 2024.
“He’s a great kid. Actually, he’s not a kid anymore. He’s a great bloke. Everyone speaks of him as a kid, don’t they? Because he acts like that sometimes, but he’s not. He’s a great bloke.
“His upside’s huge. Is he near his upside? I think he’s got a long way to go.
“I think he can truly decide how to get there with our help as coaches.
“Look, I think he’s working bloody hard. I do. I think he’s working really hard.
“He’s a mix of players. Sometimes you’ve got to push him a little bit, and other times you’ve got to get your arm around him. I think everyone’s still finding that balance. But would I back Nella to put in a performance for us on Saturday? 100 per cent I would.”
Tupou’s teammate Allan Alaalatoa, who has predominantly come off the bench because of his teammate’s poor fitness, tried to explain that both men had been encouraged to “empty the tank”.
“I think with Nel, it’s just for him to go out there and go as hard as he can for as long as he can whether that’s 30 or 40 or 50,” Alaalatoa said.
“Like we saw the week before, he went 50 and he was out for a couple of weeks before that.
“That’s the good luxury that we have is to be able to go half and half, or 50 and 30, to just go and completely empty the tank.
“That’s what we want Nel to do because when he does that, he’s powerful. Not only in the scrum, but across the park as well.”
Taniela Tupou’s fitness continues to be the subject of much debate. (Photo by Chris Hyde/Getty Images)
While Wallabies supporters bemoan his early departures, it’s undisputable the national side needs him.
Without him at the World Cup last year, the Wallabies’ scrum went from getting the better of France’s on the eve of the tournament in Paris to being dished up by the Fijian and Welsh set-piece.
That theme has continued in 2024, with the Wallabies smoked in the scrum against the Springboks and Los Pumas without him on the field throughout The Rugby Championship.
Parling was confident however that Tupou and loose-head prop Angus Bell were capable of playing more despite neither taking the field in the second half during their ugly 50-7 second-half collapse in Santa Fe.
“They can both play more minutes,” Parling said. “Of course they can.
“It’s actually just that coaching moment.
“You make those decisions. If it’s not an injury, you make those decisions, it’s considered. It’s not a spur-of-the-moment thing. It’s over the 10 minutes previously, you’re probably watching players. How can we best help the team?
“But in terms of Belly’s moment, that was just a slight knock. It’s all fine. The decision was to look after him and bring him off.”
Geoff Parling says the Wallabies will be competitive against the Lions in 2025. Photo: Andrew Phan, Rugby Australia
Meanwhile, as pundits called for next year’s Lions series to be moved to South Africa in the wake of the Wallabies’ record loss, Parling played down the “external noise” as simply pundits needing to fill newspapers and generate hits on podcasts.
“I know those blokes well, maybe they’re just trying to get some more listeners,” the former second-rower said.
Parling, who featured prominently in the Lions’ 2-1 series win over the Wallabies in 2013, said he was confident the men in gold could challenge the famous touring side.
“Mate, I’ve played in the Lions series before. I’m telling you, my belief is it will be a competitive series,” he said.
“We know we’ve got work to do. But I think it will be a fantastic series. I know people are coming over already. Booked to come to this beautiful country, that’s Australia. I think it’s going to be a great series.
“I think some people can get extreme off the back of certain results, which I understand. But I would just move on from there.”
Parling added it was rare for rebuilding sides not to hit a bump and that ultimately, it could benefit a side to have worked their way out of adversity.
“It’s very rare that it’s all upwards, upwards, upwards. Very rare,” he said.
“If that happens, I often feel that a team then, once it’s played well and it gets towards the top point, when it doesn’t go well, they don’t know what to do.
“As long as we learn from these experiences, I’m not saying Saturday was a good experience at all, of course I’m not, but I’m saying that as long as we learn, reflect, we push on, we know what the fixes are, I think any team that’s trying to be good has those up and down moments.”
Parling said the Wallabies’ coaching staff hadn’t “sugar-coated” the defeat and were under “no illusions” of the mountain ahead over the coming weeks.
The former Test lock said the group were excited by the challenge ahead of trying to end their 22-year Bledisloe Cup drought.
“I reckon they’re one of the best Tests in the world, aren’t they? So yes, [I’m] definitely [excited],” Parling said.
“These boys are certainly excited about the opportunity ahead of them. We know we have to play a hell of a lot better, we have to be a lot more accurate in what we do.
“You’d much rather be playing against an outstanding team like New Zealand compared to a team that you don’t feel is going to test you.”
