He’s already the "strongest guy I have ever seen” but Sekope Kepu says his tighthead protege Taniela Tupou has now added brains to the considerable brawn.
Kepu gave some insight into Tupou’s growth as he expressed cautious optimism about the Wallabies’ front-row squad, who turned in a strong night at the office against Argentina in Brisbane two weeks ago.
The veteran prop, who is heading overseas after the World Cup, said the most promising part of the effort was it was 80-minute performance, with early dominance continued with the arrival bench front-rowers.
“What excites me is the guys that came on and finished the job. It is probably something we have lacked over the years, and Allan (Alalaatoa) is still out. He hasn’t come back, and is that’s even more exciting for us as a front row and also as a forward pack,” Kepu said.
"But you can’t be all smiling and happy about that and get caught with our pants down on Saturday, so we have to turn that around and keep moving forward.”
It is uncertain if Alaalatoa will return from a shoulder injury for the Bledisloe opener in Perth but Australia are well stocked for tightheads, with Kepu’s 105-experience and Tupou’s enormous potential.
After 13 Tests, the 23-year-old has begun to bring consistency with his performances and Kepu says Tupou is a better player than he was at the same age.
"He is definitely ahead of where I was when I was 23,” Kepu said.
"We always have a giggle about it because we are 10 years apart. He is 23 and playing tighthead and he is the strongest guy I have ever seen in terms of his physique and the way he lifts in the gym.
"He has got it all and now I am starting to see his mental preparation.
"I room with him a lot and to see him go about his work, he is up early and either stretching or we are trying to do stuff together.
"But yeah, I have seen him since he first came into camp in 2017/16. He has that confidence now and we are going to push each other as hard as we can to do our best.”
They may end up pushing each other for a spot in the Wallabies team, too.
Given Alalaatoa was the form no.3 in the country this year, and would likely re-join a Brumbies front row of Folau Faingaa and Scott Sio, the bench role would be between Kepu and Tupou.
Kepu can play loosehead but with Sio and James Slipper, and Tom Robertson (who is currently injured), there’s already depth at the open side too.
Kepu’s experience would count in his favour and he’s in good nick, too, after playing the most Super Rugby minutes of his career in the past season.
With not much tight-head depth at NSW, the 33-year-old was asked to play every game and for 70-plus minutes each week. He played the most minutes for all Super Rugby tighthead props, competition-wide.
But in age where athletes can be over-managed as far as workload goes, Kepu said the extra time actually helped him.
"I can’t complain about too much footy. The more games you get the better my body feels,” Kepu said.
"I can only take the gains from that game time and being able to push through to 70-75 minutes at Super Rugby was great.
"Probably not at the time, with the way the body felt. But yeah for me it is my last season here. My mentality is take every opportunity I can get and empty the tank and do whatever I can for the team.
"I am feeling good. There is definitely a lot of competition and a good feeling around the group. The energy is good.
“All the young fellas are keeping me young, and you hang around them they keep you energised and keep you going.”
All Blacks hooker Dane Coles pointed to the Wallabies’ scrum as an Aussie strength, saying they’d adapted to new engagement laws faster than most.
Kepu said while he was pleased with the effort in Brisbane, he’s been around long enough to know the danger of being sweet-talked by the Kiwis; particulalry a team who have a point to prove following two middling Test performances.
"They’re a world-class team and you only have to look through their forward pack and the experience they’ve got, the Test caps they’ve got, they’ve played together really well,” Kepu said.
"The front row with Moody, Codie and Owen, they’ve got that chemistry from the Crusaders and everyone else behind them. They’re not going to sweat it too much.
"I’m sure they’ll prepare really, really well and want to bounce back as we did from the Springboks the first week. The challenge for us is to rise to that and just keep building.
"We’re not going to rest on our laurels and think we’ve done a great job. We’ve parked that and we’ve got a massive, massive challenge on Saturday. We can’t be fooled into thinking otherwise.”
The Wallabies take on New Zealand at Optus Stadium, Perth, on Saturday August 10, kicking off at 5;45pm local, 7;45pm AEST, with the Wallaroos-Black Ferns kicking off at 3pm local, 5pm AEST. The Wallabies are LIVE on Network Ten, FOX SPORTS, Kayo Sports and RUGBY.com.au RADIO while the Wallaroos will be shown on FOX SPORTS, Kayo Sports and via RUGBY.com.au RADIO.
