After topping 150kg and almost breaking the scales in the off-season, Taniela Tupou has been working so hard the Wallabies prop had to be placed on a leash.
But that’s better than a harness, Tupou reckons.
Tupou put in an impressive 56-minute shift on his Super Rugby Pacific debut for the NSW Waratahs against the Highlanders last Friday night.
It was the 28-year-old’s most minutes in a match since the Wallabies’ ill-fated 2023 Rugby World Cup campaign.
Yet Tupou wants more, even putting his hand up to play for the NSW A team in the ACT on Saturday, while the Waratahs enjoy a round-two bye.
“He gave me a call wanting to play in the A game this weekend just to keep building his minutes,” McKellar said.
“It won’t happen, but it says where he’s at headspace-wise and where he’s at.”
Tupou’s hunger for work comes barely two months after the behemoth prop copped a reality check when his wife forced him to bungy jump almost 50 metres into the Kawarau River while on “holidays” in Christchurch.
“I weighed myself in because I wanted to train hard before I go to Queenstown, because I wanted to enjoy it,” Tupou recalled.
“I was 143 (kilos). We had lunch, we had a few beers. We went to the place and I asked, ‘What’s the weight limit?’
“They said, ‘155.’
(Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)
“I was like, ‘Oh, I’m sweet. I’m at least 10 kilos lighter.’
“So I jump on and it’s 150. I said, ‘Oh f–k’ … I put on that much weight in three days?”
“Everybody else had the one rope around their legs and then jumped off, I had the full harness on me.
“I was more worried about it breaking, but I’m glad I got it done.
“I didn’t want to do it. The missus forced me to.”
Tupou has since trimmed back to around 140kg and the sacrifices are paying dividends as the 58-Test stalwart strives to help the Waratahs restore order after collecting last year’s wooden spoon.
“He’s working hard in the background,” McKellar said.
“He’s settled here with his family and I’m just really pleased to just keep chipping away at him and coaching him.
“That’s the most important thing. It’s not just about the flash carries and just about the scrum, it’s the clean-out work, the tackle work.”
© AAP
