I agree. Tupou is so far off his best atm which is a real shame. I just get this vibe that his heart isn't entirely in it (though maybe thats unfair, just how it appears). Not the same as it was a couple of years back anyway. I look at the hunger when Bell carries and the impact he makes and Tupou in comparison just seems a bit passive. Add in some inaccuracy (messiness) and the odd silly transgression and he just isn't where you want him to be. Even his scrummaging I have question marks over.
I'm not sure what it is. Maybe the recent injuries play on him more than we give it credit. Maybe it's just that transistion into being a Dad. Maybe it's just all the life changes with moving around the country and different clubs. Maybe it's something else. I really do hope he finds his mojo again and starts working towards his full potential because if he was we'd have a formidable forward pack.
I agree Tupou’s below his best but, if anything, I think he’s often guilty of trying to do too much around the breakdown. He needs to be more patient at times. Then again he often gets away with it when’s he’s disrupting the ball so I can see why he still goes for it.
He’s still comfortably our best scrummager.
I did think Ala'alatoa did his job well off the bench which is good as he has been below his best this year.
Even old man Slipper did his job but it is a bit of a worry they didn’t bring him on until about the 70 minute mark. Or maybe that’s just a big tick to what a great game Bell had.
Anyway, I’ve type as much negativity as I’m going to about the game in the couple of posts I’ve made. We just beat England in a game that I feared we might get pumped in and it was a great team performance with expansive play, execution under pressure and stolen from the jaws of defeat. I’ll leave Schmidt & Co to tinker away with the works ons.
