TANIELA TUPOU IS the latest sensation in New Zealand schoolboy rugby, and weighing in at 135kg the tighthead prop is hard to miss. The 18-year-old crossed for a hat-trick inside the first 20 minutes of Sacred Heart College’s win over the famous Kelston Boys’ High School last weekend.
Now being called ‘The Tongan Hulk’ or ‘The Tongan Thor,’ Tupou looks set to draw attention from Super Rugby and NRL [rugby league] sides when his time dominating the Auckland schools competition comes to an end.
With the IRFU increasingly open to the idea of project players coming to Ireland and qualifying to play for the national team three years later, they may be keeping an eye on the explosive prop too!*
*This is, of course, not a serious suggestion.
I’ll tell you 1 thing you won’t expect to happen in Croke Park – the Kerry/Mayo replay!