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Chiefs extend All Black lock Tupou Vaa'i long term
By Sam Smith
The Chiefs Rugby Club is pleased to announce the extension of Tupou Vaa'i's contract with the Gallagher Chiefs and New Zealand Rugby until 2025.
Vaa'i is a talented lock that has made a rapid rise through the rugby ranks since his provincial debut for Taranaki at just 18 years old. Two years later he went on to debut for both the Gallagher Chiefs and All Blacks at only 20 years old and has solidified his place in both teams, notching up 31 and 15 caps, respectively.
Gallagher Chiefs Head Coach Clayton McMillan says it is fantastic to have Tupou remaining with the team.
"He has always been a player of immense talent, and his achievements to date at such a young age validate that. He is only going to get better with age and experience which is an exciting prospect.
"There’s no doubt he is going to be a significant contributor to the Gallagher Chiefs and New Zealand Rugby in the years ahead."
In his early career, Vaa’i was Head Prefect and first XV Captain during his time at Wesley College. Later, he was selected for the New Zealand under-20s, making six appearances for the side, including at the 2019 World Rugby U20 Championships.
Speaking on his extension with the Gallagher Chiefs Vaa'i said, "I'm truly humbled and grateful to continue my journey with this team. I believe we've got a good crew, so I’m excited to see what we can accomplish together moving forward. Plus, FMG Stadium Waikato is one of the best rugby grounds around filled with loyal supporters."
All Blacks head coach Ian Foster said of Vaa’i’s extension, “Tupou has really impressed in his time with the All Blacks, and we see his signing as critical in our long-term plans. Great news.”
Vaa'i has put in strong performances for the All Blacks this season in the Lipovitan-D Rugby Championships which has seen him named in the squad for the Northern Tour.
The squad will travel to Japan for the Lipovitan-D Rugby Challenge Cup and then to Wales, Scotland, and England for the Healthspan Elite Northern Tour.
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Latest Comments
Nah, that just needs some more variation. Chip kicks, grubber stabs, all those. Will Jordan showed a pretty good reason why the rush was bad for his link up with BB.
If you have an overlap on a rush defense, they naturally cover out and out and leave a huge gap near the ruck.
It also helps if both teams play the same rules. ARs set the offside line 1m past where the last mans feet were😅
Go to commentsYeah nar, should work for sure. I was just asking why would you do it that way?
It could be achieved by outsourcing all your IP and players to New Zealand, Japan, and America, with a big Super competition between those countries raking it in with all of Australia's best talent to help them at a club level. When there is enough of a following and players coming through internally, and from other international countries (starting out like Australia/without a pro scene), for these high profile clubs to compete without a heavy australian base, then RA could use all the money they'd saved over the decades to turn things around at home and fund 4 super sides of their own that would be good enough to compete.
That sounds like a great model to reset the game in Aus. Take a couple of decades to invest in youth and community networks before trying to become professional again. I just suggest most aussies would be a bit more optimistic they can make it work without the two decades without any pro club rugby bit.
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