New Wallaby Feleti Katiu'u is still soaking in all the emotions after making a dream debut during last night's thrilling win over South Africa.
Kaitu'u became Wallaby 945 in less than ideal fashion, called on after Folau Fainga'a was sin-binned for an illegal tackle late in the match.
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Having missed the start of the Rugby Championship with a calf complaint, the Force hooker was looking to make an impact with the game slipping out of their grabs.
Flanked by his side was good mate and Reds enforcer Taniela Tupou, with the pair combining to help engineer a brutal scrum that forced the ball loose, eventually allowing for a game-winning penalty from Quade Cooper.
“I’m still trying to get a hold of all of the emotions and come back to reality. I’m just really grateful that I could do it alongside my good mate ‘Nela,” Kaitu’u said.
“We’ve come a long way from 2014 (eating $5 lunches, Tupou injected)…when I ended up in the Reds wider squad, lo and behold ‘Tongan Thor’ was on his way to the Reds.
“He didn’t have much English at that time (still doesn’t according to Tupou himself) and I was actually taught Tongan first before English from my parents although I was born in Australia so naturally we gravitated towards each other and hit it off.”
Throughout the match, the Wallabies scrum was targeted at stages by the monstrous Springboks pack, who forced penalties on three separate occasions.
Needing a big effort, Tupou took guidance out of words from Kaitu'u and the surrounding Wallabies bench as he looked to fulfil his role as an impact player.
"The two scrums before that scrum we went backwards so we came together and we wanted to come up with a plan and what we needed to get that scrum," Tupou said on the moment.
"Feleti or Hoops (Michael Hooper) was telling us, if there's one scrum we need to win this year it's this one.
"It was in front of our bench and I looked at them and they gave it to me so I thought, 'I will throw everything I can into this scrum', and somehow we did it.”
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Tupou has been used mainly from the bench in 2021 as an impact player, with Allan Alaalatoa preferred to start.
As the Brumbies skipper returns to Canberra for the birth of his child, it is expected Tupou will be elevated to the starting side, it’s just a matter of where joked the skilful prop.
“Nah Quadey (Cooper) on the bench put me at ten,” he said when about who should start at ten with James O’Connor now available.
“...I’d like to think I’m ready to go, I’m not sure what direction they’ll go, we have Holmsey (Greg Holmes), Throbba (Tom Robertson) if they pick me to start this week, I’ll be ready to go.
“Dave and the coaches know what they are doing so if they think (starting from the bench) is best for the team, I’ve have to trust them… Im just happy to get that opportunity to come on and play because there are a lot of guys that are dying to get the chance to pull on the jersey
