{"id":63530,"date":"2025-08-12T21:51:14","date_gmt":"2025-08-12T21:51:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/63530\/"},"modified":"2025-08-12T21:51:14","modified_gmt":"2025-08-12T21:51:14","slug":"can-the-all-blacks-convert-tupou-vaai-into-a-destructive-back-row-enforcer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/63530\/","title":{"rendered":"Can the All Blacks convert Tupou Vaa’i into a destructive back row enforcer?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Having unveiled a Rugby Championship<\/a> squad that has three hybrid lock-cum-loose forwards in it, All Blacks<\/a> coach Scott Robertson<\/a> has shown just how serious he is about upping the size and power of his forward pack.<\/p>\n

This is a coach on a mission to give himself a suite of options on how to set up the back two rows of his scrum, and how to give his match day 23 the horsepower he obviously feels it needs to better compete against the like of South Africa<\/a> and France<\/a> who so regularly now opt for a 7-1 bench split and chain release oversized forwards throughout the second half.<\/p>\n

Clearly, Robertson feels he needs to be able to fight with fire.<\/p>\n

In Ardie Savea<\/a> and Wallace Sititi<\/a> he has two all-rounders \u2013 freakish athletes with the power and pace to play in any of the back-row positions. These two can do it all, and against any opponent. In Peter Lakai<\/a> and Du\u2019Plessis Kirifi he has got two out and out ball winning sevens, who can carry with more punch than their size suggests.<\/p>\n

But he doesn\u2019t yet have that Pieter-Steph du Toit<\/a> figure sorted yet \u2013 that Tadhg Beirne-type athlete with that rare mix of size, speed and agility that enables them to effortlessly flit between lock and loose forward depending on the occasion.<\/p>\n

\"TupouFast becoming an outstanding lock Tupou Vaa\u2019i<\/a> will be trialled in the backrow by Scott Robertson as he attempts to beef up his pack (Photo by PhiltWalter\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n

That\u2019s the All Blacks\u2019 missing piece \u2013 and it is a piece that Robertson clearly feels he needs if his side are going to pull off their ambitious mix of ultra-fast, high-skilled rugby. He dropped Ethan Blackadder<\/a> for the July Tests, and now he\u2019s not retained Dalton Papali\u2019i or Christian Lio-Willie.<\/p>\n

He wants a bigger-bodied, powerful athlete as his preferred option at No 6 \u2013 someone who has the height to add to the lineout, the bulk to bolster the scrum and the explosiveness to make dominant tackles and carry the All Blacks over the advantage line.<\/p>\n

New Zealand has arguably been left behind in this arms race and it\u2019s possible to pin-point several tests in the last few years in which the All Blacks\u2019 were hurt by their lack of size and power at No 6.
Last year\u2019s two-test series against the Springboks was maybe when the power deficit was most keenly felt.<\/p>\n

Both tests were a titanic struggle for 65 minutes, and then inexorably the South Africans used their phalanx of heavyweights \u2013 the likes of du Toit, Elrigh Louw<\/a>, Jasper Wiese<\/a>, RG Snyman<\/a> and Eben Etzebeth<\/a> \u2013 to keep wave after wave of big men coming at the All Blacks until they just couldn\u2019t resist.<\/p>\n

I just love it when you see him at 6ft 6ins, and he gets his legs wide and has that wide jackal, hunting for the ball \u2013 it just shows his instincts are there to be a loose forward.<\/p>\n

Scott Robertson on Tupou Vaa\u2019i<\/p>\n

The All Blacks couldn\u2019t stop the Springboks from building momentum \u2013 and both New Zealand\u2019s scrum and lineout also went into meltdown mode in the respective final quarters of those two tests.
This is why Simon Parker<\/a>, all 1.97m and 119kg of him, has been named in the Rugby Championship squad that features his Chiefs<\/a> team-mates, Tupou Vaa\u2019i (1.98m\/118kg) and Samipeni Finau<\/a> (1.94m\/115kg).
Vaa\u2019i, arguably New Zealand\u2019s form lock in 2024 and so far in 2025, was the major talking point of the recent French series as he was unexpectedly picked to start at blindside in the first two tests (and would have played the third there too but for a concussion).<\/p>\n

The 25-year-old remains a work in progress, but first in Dunedin and then in Wellington, he took giant strides towards showing he can get around the field with the requisite speed, that he can win turnovers and that he can use his soft skills when positioned as a wide distributor.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just love it when you see him at 6ft 6ins, and he gets his legs wide and has that wide jackal, hunting for the ball \u2013 it just shows his instincts are there to be a loose forward,\u201d Robertson said after the second test, in which Vaa\u2019i scored a try (as he did in the first) and snaffled a key turnover (as he did in the first).<\/p>\n

\u201cHe can clearly play there and it is giving us some depth to have flexibility in our squad.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"Tupou Vaai\u2019i is still raw but has the heft to punch holes during The Rugby Championship (Photo Hannah Peters\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n

It wasn\u2019t Vaa\u2019i\u2019s first Test outing at No 6 as he played at blindside in the opening game of the 2023 World Cup. He\u2019d been picked on the bench as lock cover, but a few hours before kick-off, he was told there had been a change of plan.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was just before our final walk through before we headed to the stadium,\u201d Vaa\u2019i recounts. \u201cSam Cane had a sore back and got I called up that afternoon.<\/p>\n

\u201cI remember having a meeting with Fozzie [former All Blacks coach Ian Foster] and he said, \u2018you will be starting at blindside and Brodie [Retallick] will come onto the bench\u2019.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a bit of a surprise \u2013 but that is test footy: one man goes down and you have to be ready to step up. I was grateful to be part of the World Cup opener.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut I wasn\u2019t picturing being at six.\u201d<\/p>\n

When you are not 100 per cent comfortable with the role you start to second guess yourself actions and become passive. But I have come a long way I guess from playing six at the World Cup.<\/p>\n

Tupou Vaa\u2019i<\/p>\n

Vaa\u2019i was understandably lost at times. His overall impact away from the set-piece was low, and the project of using him at No 6 was shelved, until Robertson, somewhat randomly and unexpectedly re-ignited it this July.<\/p>\n

But while it was a surprise to the public and media, it wasn\u2019t a surprise to Vaa\u2019i himself. He says that Robertson told him as soon as the team assembled for the French series that he was going to be playing blindside and having had 10 days to acclimatise as it were, he felt a much higher degree of confidence about his assignment.<\/p>\n

\u201cI guess heading into the game I wasn\u2019t 100 per cent with the role I was playing,\u201d Vaa\u2019i said of the 2023 experience.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you are not 100 per cent comfortable with the role you start to second guess yourself actions and become passive.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut I have come a long way I guess from playing six at the World Cup. That was two years ago. I got a heads up from Razor about playing six and I have had days to prepare myself.<\/p>\n

\"ScottScott Robertson has his L-Plates off in his second Rugby Championship and expectations will be raised (Photo Joe Allison\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n

\u201cThe coaches have trust in me. They have seen what I can do with the ball in hand and without it and it is about me bringing me that over to test footy and showing that I can play this role.\u201d<\/p>\n

Everyone is assuming that Vaa\u2019i will be returned to the second-row in the Rugby Championship, but Robertson clearly has a long-term plan in mind \u2013 one that will see the 25-year-old likely start the higher profile tests at blindside, at least for the remainder of this year.<\/p>\n

Vaa\u2019i made 10 tackles in Wellington \u2013 not a crazy number, but the quality was high and the way he covered the ground to score under the posts to finish what was a flowing move, illustrated his anticipation as well as his raw speed and work-rate.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe plays a little bit more on the edge, but he\u2019s got the skills to do it,\u201d is Robertson\u2019s assessment of Vaa\u2019i as a No 6.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s quick enough. He has great footwork at the line; he can tip out the back and he has good running lines.<\/p>\n

What Robertson is no doubt thinking, is that he may be able to start Tests this year with Fabian Holland<\/a> and Scott Barrett<\/a> at lock, Vaa\u2019i at blindside, and Parker and Patrick Tuipulotu<\/a> (1.98m\/125kg) on the bench.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s just doing it over and over again. He\u2019s a good defender too and he\u2019s a little bit further out there. He understands and anticipates the game so it\u2019s just reps for him. It\u2019s a change of number on his back but a lot of the core role stays the same.\u201d<\/p>\n

The uncapped Parker, whose preference is to play at blindside or No 8, but who can cover lock, is likely to be used mainly off the bench to gently build his exposure to Test rugby.<\/p>\n

He was impossible to miss during Super Rugby because of his work-rate, power on both sides of the ball and unfailing accuracy.<\/p>\n

\u201c[We] like his accuracy, he\u2019s a big man that\u2019s physical, but he\u2019s really accurate and he\u2019s intimidating,\u201d is Robertson\u2019s assessment of Parker.<\/p>\n

But what Robertson is no doubt thinking, is that he may be able to start Tests this year with Fabian Holland and Scott Barrett at lock, Vaa\u2019i at blindside, and Parker and Patrick Tuipulotu (1.98m\/125kg) on the bench.<\/p>\n

\"SpringboksThe All Blacks recognise they need to power up in order to go toe-to-toe with the Springboks (Photo PHILL MAGAKOE\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n

That will give him a suite of big men to prevent the All Blacks being overpowered in the final quarter, and a means to keep the set-piece functioning and competitive for the full 80 minutes without losing that ability to play at pace.<\/p>\n

Finau\u2019s explosive, but he is a different body shape to Parker and Vaa\u2019i \u2013 leaner and not as tall \u2013 and it may be that when the squad has to be cut to 33 for the 2027 World Cup, there is no room for him.
But he\u2019s another power athlete with the ability to play both lock and loose forward, and for now he will remain in the mix in case the experiment with Vaa\u2019i doesn\u2019t ultimately work out, or Parker can\u2019t reproduce his Super Rugby form for the All Blacks.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Having unveiled a Rugby Championship squad that has three hybrid lock-cum-loose forwards in it, All Blacks coach Scott…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":63531,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[567],"tags":[64,63,760,85],"class_list":["post-63530","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\/63530","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=63530"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/63530\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/63531"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=63530"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=63530"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=63530"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}