Schoolboy sensation 'tip of iceberg' says Tonga rugby coach
Tonga rugby coach Mana Otai says the global reaction to 18-year-old sensation Taniela Tupou came as no surprise to him, with foreign scouts already on the lookout for the next schoolboy star.
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Tonga rugby coach Mana Otai says the global reaction to 18-year-old sensation Taniela Tupou came as no surprise to him, with foreign scouts already on the lookout for the next schoolboy star.
Nicknamed the "Tongan Thor", footage of the 135 kg prop's try-scoring exploits for Auckland College Sacred Heart has racked up millions of YouTube views in the past fortnight.
The Tonga-born teen is reportedly being chased by rugby and league clubs in Europe, Australia and New Zealand, and garnering interest from American Football.
Mana Otai told Vinnie Wylie there are plenty more players like Tupou back in Tonga, and it seems everyone knows it.
MANA OTAI: I've seen the kid play here when he comes off school holidays. He played against men last year and he was really outstanding out here in our local comp and I think the year beforehand he was playing in the under 20 competition and he stood out for obvious reasons: he's fast, he's very agile for a big man. It's the reality of our rugby here in the nations. We do have really talented players - if we go through all the players that are out there at the moment that we would love to have our hands on but every player has different aspirations. Ideally for me, as the national head coach, I'd love all of them to be able to play for Tonga, and there are many more of those around - that's the other side of it. He's only one who's been seen publicly but there are a lot of rough diamonds around in Tonga, as well as abroad. We're only just starting to see the tip of the iceberg at the moment to be honest.
VINNIE WYLIE: Indeed obviously with the Vunipola boys doing well in the UK as well.
MO: That's right - that's a classic example - and that's only the second generation of that group of players that is starting to move offshore. Club rugby in Auckland at the moment, I watched club rugby two weeks ago [and] much to my surprise a traditionally a very pakeha club half of the backline were Tongans and two thirds of the team were Tongans so that tells me a lot.
VW: You know someone is born and develops the majority of their life in a country and then as soon as they go away and a lot of scholarships go from the islands, to especially Auckland schools and then...
MO: It's just amazing. Vinnie it's a reality that schools are now arriving in Tonga. The coaches are arriving in Tonga. We had people from Te Awamutu and Cambridge last year here in Tonga, during the athletics and stuff, recruiting and scouting for young props, young number eights - it seems to be the favourite position - and midfield backs. Oh they're here - it becomes very competitive at school rugby now, in first fifteen rugby. It used to be not televised [and] now it becomes a big very advertisement for schools and it's fully supported by their Super 15 franchises as well because that's where their feeder schools come from [and] players come from so it is a reality in Tonga now, because it's a free market and every time I took out a local team or a local team goes out of here, wherever they compete there's agents everywhere and clubs everywhere looking because all they do is offer something slightly better opportunity than what they're currently having here.
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