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Jason Ryan: Tupou Vaa’i ‘becoming a man at Test level’

Tupou Vaa'i of the All Blacks. Photo by Hannah Peters/Getty Images

With perhaps rugby’s most iconic second-row partnership departing the All Blacks following the 2023 Rugby World Cup, some anxiety over the next men up was only natural. Much of that anxiety has now been put to rest thanks to the form of Tupou Vaa’i.

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With only the biggest of boots to fill, Vaa’i’s apprenticeship under All Blacks legends Brodie Retallick and Sam Whitelock has certainly paid dividends as the 24-year-old assumed the starting role and owned it throughout The Rugby Championship. 

Starting the season behind both All Blacks captain Scott Barrett and the Super Rugby Pacific champion Blues captain Patrick Tuipulotu, Vaa’i looked to be continuing his impact role as starting minutes continued to prove evasive.

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However, when Tuipulotu went down with injury Vaa’i got his shot. It wasn’t long before Barrett was also ruled out and the young lock was handed the keys to the All Blacks’ line out.

With the bright lights of Eden Park and its famous winning streak on the line, Vaa’i excelled.

A near-flawless lineout performance throughout the 80 minutes helped see New Zealand past Argentina in a statement bounce-back victory.

All Blacks forwards coach Jason Ryan has duly rewarded Vaa’i with the starting gig moving forward and shared strong praise for the budding star following a rocky Rugby Championship campaign.

“Tups has been exceptional,” Ryan told the Aotearoa Rugby Pod. “He’s carried on some great Super Rugby form and I think I’ve said this before but what people don’t see is I think it’s a reflection of playing a lot of rugby with Brodie Retallick at the Chiefs.

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“And then he’s come in at the All Black level and he’s been alongside Sam Whitelock and Scott Barrett and Patty Tuipulotu – with him being injured it became an opportunity for Tups and he really took it.”

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Ryan’s sentiment has been echoed by All Blacks head coach Scott Robertson throughout the 2024 campaign, with words like “immense” and “remarkable” inspired by gritty engine room performances.

The on-field performances are a reflection of the work going in behind the scenes according to Ryan, and there’s plenty of it.

“I think it’s a reflection of the work he does during the week, his homework and his preparation.

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“He’s becoming a man at the Test level which is a lot different to Super level and he’s made the most of his opportunity. He’s a big part of our lineout group and a real leader within the forward pack and I’m really pleased for him. The best is yet to come.”

Watch the highly acclaimed five-part documentary Chasing the Sun 2, chronicling the journey of the Springboks as they strive to successfully defend the Rugby World Cup, free on RugbyPass TV (*unavailable in Africa)

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J
JW 6 hours ago
Western Force and ACT Brumbies looking for signs of progress in Super Rugby Pacific

Yeah, that’s what I was referring to too. You know in that situation the kind of things that form your picture of NRL or A league etc disappear in the case of kiwi rugby supporters, where they believe they have that advantage over aus rugby.


I have to put my hand up here. While I can see the reasoning behind a much better Reds, and even though they were good enough to win against the top 3 last year, I still don’t see them climbing (places) like you’d expect (all fair and reasonable points aside I mean).


But yes, I asked that because I do find aussie rugby supporters unique in this example of pragmatism. Look, I still think the circumstances dictate that it is why there isn’t more support for rugby in aus (they would need to win more like anything), but it is a) the kind of outlook that made my try to think of the SR standings in a way unassociated to nationality, and b) something that should be captured somehow and adopted by everyone.


Because I have no doubt SR died because of nationalism. Here, like with your above example, all there were for years were complaints of how better kiwi teams weren’t getting a deserved finals ranking. Now while the whole topic is complicated to get right, to have it get to the point where one side almost wants to kill it off and drive the otherside away is just not healthy.


I honestly think there are really easy things to do that could resolve the problem (if aus rugby culture couldn’t be copied/spread lol) like having even just a few players in each others teams. SR’s getting by right now because aussies population is so big there are still enough core fans that can have your outlook (though that survey said nearly a third also support another country?), but everything changes, and if the shoe is on the other foot at some time in the future I’d imagine that problem would “remain“ just long enough that NZ wouldn’t be able to “get by”.


There are just so many sports like SR that don’t have a parity system and end up with this sort of predictability that must be hard to ignore and get excited about. That its not down to something simple like being the richest is irrelevant. Visiting Japan it was really interesting to see how they had become supporters of these particular top sides. What do Canadians think about the Stanley Cup going to teams out of Law Vegas and Florida?

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