Rugby Australia: the story of Tupou, the “Tongan Thor”

They call him “Tongan Thor”. It is Taniela Tupou, a giant of 181 centimeters and 148 kilos: the nickname was given to him in New Zealand, after seeing him win a match alone at 17 years old, but it also applies and above all to what he did and experienced off the pitch. Her father Malakai was a carpenter and died when Taniela was nine. Since then his mother Loisi has raised the family alone: ​​11 children, all living together in a small wooden house, with little money and a lot of obstinacy. “I grew up with nothing at home, I know what it means to have nothing” he said many times. His mother often had to knock on neighbors’ doors and ask for some flour and prepare topai (cakes made from flour, coconut milk and sugar) and buns, Tongan bread rolls. Born in 1996 in Vaini on the island of Tongatapu, as a child Taniela Tupou watched planes land from the window in the middle of the night. The one from Australia arrived around two o’clock, and every time he dreamed of being there, towards a better life for him and his very large family. “One day I’ll get on that plane too” he dreamed. He couldn’t yet know that he would become “Tongan Thor” and that he would do so wearing the Australia shirt, after also passing through New Zealand, but he knew that something could and had to happen. Now he is one of the symbolic players of Australia who will challenge Italy on Saturday, with 66 caps for the national team and a career – and a life – that seems like a film.

wake up at 5, mum Loisi, the bible

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The alarm clock at 5, mother Loisi, the Bible Taniela Tupou knew that rugby could become something more than a passion, and above all it could be the only opportunity to really change her life and above all that of her family, her true goal. Mother Loisi himself woke up every morning at five with Taniela, accompanied him on the main road from Vaini to Malapo, where his friend ran on foot to train: she encouraged him, then they prayed together. Mother Loisi taught him to read and understand the Bible, to have faith: and she was right. It quickly becomes clear that Taniela Tupou can become someone: she starts at Tonga College ‘Atele and then gets a scholarship to Sacred Heart College in Auckland, New Zealand. The first plane, the one he dreamed of since he was a child, has finally arrived: dreaming is one thing, but living is another. The beginning is very hard: Tupou doesn’t speak English well and isn’t able to settle in. He would like to go home but knows he can’t give up, for him, for his mother and for his brothers. Something would have happened sooner or later, and in fact it happens. It’s 2013, a match between his Sacred Heart College in Auckland and Kelston Boys High: Tupou is from another planet, scores three tries and wins the match practically alone. His luck is that someone in the stands is filming the match to upload it to YouTube: that video goes viral, and that big boy from Auckland College becomes “Tongan Thor” for everyone.

the controversies with New Zealand

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Yet the road remains uphill. Tupou doesn’t have a New Zealand passport, so he can’t represent the youth teams: “They told me ‘if you don’t have a New Zealand passport but you’ve lived here for four years, you can play for the team’. But I’ve been here for four years and they told me I can’t play for them. It’s not fair. Obviously I’m not good enough to stay here,” he told the New Zealand Herald with a touch of bitterness. At that point the New Zealand managers offer him an agreement: they will make an exception, but in exchange he will be “blocked” by New Zealand and will no longer be able to change country, even if by regulation the youth teams are not binding in the final choice of the national team. Tupou refuses, at 17 he doesn’t want to be tied down or accept a noose clause and – also advised by his family – he moves to Australia. He also had offers in Europe, but he didn’t want to be too far away from his mother and brothers. The choice is the right one, because the Reds help him grow and the Australian national team is so focused on him that they call him up when he is not yet available. Tupou arrived in Queensland in 2014, and therefore 3 years had to pass before he could play with Australia: in 2016, however, he was already taken to the various training camps in order to make him ready when – in 2017 – he obtained the right to play with the Wallabies. From 2017 to today he will play 66 matches, becoming a symbolic player of the Australian national team. When he played in the Australian franchises and there were double training sessions – in the morning and in the afternoon – he arrived at the camp in a caravan to take a nap in between without having to return home, just to make clear the propensity to sacrifice of those who had nothing and conquered everything.

the cyclone and the rise

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After his debut in the national team everything seems to be downhill: a nice contract, the national team, Super Rugby. Unfortunately this is not the case: in 2018 Cyclone Gita devastated Tonga, and her mother’s house was destroyed. She and her two younger sisters are left homeless. Taniela doesn’t think twice: he returns home and invests everything he has earned up to that point to build first a temporary accommodation (“it only serves as a refuge for the moment. I hope to be able to build a real house, resistant to cyclones, before another one arrives”) and then a real house for the woman who allowed him to become what he is: “I know what it means to have nothing, because when I grew up at home we had nothing. And now, with everything I have, it seems that I can help my family to have a lifetime. I get emotional when I talk about my family. I think that when I go through tough moments in training or in matches, I think of my mother and the hard work and sacrifices she made for us” he said emotionally when he was awarded Australian player of the year at the end of 2018. After many years in Australia, today Tupou lives in Paris, plays for Racing 92, and has two gigantic dogs, Thor (obviously) and Hulk: “They are big enough to play on the front line with me”. And almost every day he hears from his mother: “She writes to me, she always calls me. Sometimes I tell her: mum, give me a moment to breathe. But I almost always answer, let’s say in 90% of cases”.