{"id":129268,"date":"2025-09-09T03:39:09","date_gmt":"2025-09-09T03:39:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/129268\/"},"modified":"2025-09-09T03:39:09","modified_gmt":"2025-09-09T03:39:09","slug":"quinn-tupaeas-a-few-ballers-take-on-new-springboks-backline","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/129268\/","title":{"rendered":"Quinn Tupaea\u2019s \u2018a few ballers\u2019 take on new Springboks backline"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

After suffering a 24-17 loss at Eden Park, Rassie Erasmus<\/a> has wielded the selection axe in his Springbok backline ahead of their second Test against the All Blacks<\/a> in New Zealand. The Kiwis are adjusting their expectations for the match accordingly.<\/p>\n

Midfielder Quinn Tupaea<\/a>, whose new contract with New Zealand<\/a> Rugby was announced on Tuesday morning, told reporters in Wellington<\/a> that the extent of the changes was \u201ca little bit\u201d of a surprise, but acknowledged Erasmus\u2019s history of bold selection calls.<\/p>\n

Saturday\u2019s Wellington Test will see Cheslin Kolbe<\/a> remain as the only back wearing the same jersey he wore in Auckland. Canan Moodie<\/a> has been shifted from wing to centre, but the rest of the selected starters were either on the bench or the sideline at Eden Park.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s good seeing their team; they got a few ballers in that backline, a few guys that play with confidence and like to move the ball around,\u201d Tupaea said.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut we\u2019re expecting a lot of the same: using their kicking game well, and big forwards. Just given the backline they\u2019ve named, they might look to play a little bit more.\u201d<\/p>\n

He went on to say the team aren\u2019t satisfied with their own performance, and have welcomed a special guest into camp to help prepare for the rematch.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe need to go to another level this week. There was a lot of emotion, given the occasion, with Ardie and Eden Park.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve got Richie (McCaw) in camp this week, so drawing a bit of inspiration from him this week and the history there.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tupaea said, \u201cIt\u2019s pretty crazy\u201d having the former All Blacks captain in camp, and it\u2019s a timely visit as the team looks to reassert the intent and energy of the Eden Park win. He acknowledged that backing up such a high-emotion performance is the challenge his team must meet.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve spoken about it; it\u2019s hard to get that emotion from last week. But every week, it\u2019s a massive game for the All Blacks; we\u2019re always expected to play well, perform well, especially at home. It\u2019s not hard to get up for these games.\u201d<\/p>\n

Tupaea wore the No. 22 jersey in Auckland, entering the contest in the 58th minute and scoring what would prove to be a decisive try in New Zealand\u2019s win. He explained what his job was, coming on in an impact role.<\/p>\n

\u201cReviewing them, knowing how they like to play, they like to cram and bring a lot of linespeed, so just trying to get that space a little bit wider, away from the ruck was a bit of a mindset. It was a pretty frantic last 20 minutes, so I was just trying to add value and not take away from the team.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Head-to-Head <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Last 5 Meetings<\/p>\n

Average Points scored<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

The All Blacks have lost the services of two of their starters from Auckland, hooker Codie Taylor<\/a> (concussion) and winger Emoni Narawa<\/a> (ribs). After a strong win, it\u2019s unlikely the team will make many changes to their matchday team, but after bringing Leicester<\/a> Fainga\u2019anuku into camp just last week as an injury replacement for Timoci Tavatavanawai<\/a>, there\u2019ll be plenty of intrigue over the wing selections.<\/p>\n

Tupaea was asked what his impressions of Fainga\u2019anuku have been since his return from a two-season stint at Toulon.<\/p>\n

\u201cProbably the size, he\u2019s touching 110 (kg). He said he was playing over there (in France) at like 114 and playing a little bit in the loosies. It\u2019s cool to have him back, good to chat about his time over there and his experiences. But probably just the size of the guy now, he\u2019s massive.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"After suffering a 24-17 loss at Eden Park, Rassie Erasmus has wielded the selection axe in his Springbok…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":129269,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[567],"tags":[64,63,760,85],"class_list":["post-129268","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-rugby","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-rugby","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/129268","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=129268"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/129268\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/129269"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=129268"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=129268"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=129268"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}