Quinn Tupaea
Quinn Tupaea (/tuːˈpʌɪˈjə/; born 10 May 1999) is a New Zealand professional rugby union footballer who plays as a centre for New Zealand province Waikato. In his youth career, he was selected to play in the 2019 World Rugby Under 20 Championships for New Zealand and took part in Hamilton Boys' High School first XV, the top representative team in secondary school. At rhythm and vines
Date of birth | 10 May 1999 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Place of birth | Hamilton, New Zealand | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Height | 186 cm (6 ft 1 in) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Weight | 102 kg (225 lb; 16 st 1 lb) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
School | Hamilton Boys' High School | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Rugby union career | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Professional career
2018–present
In May 2018, Waikato signed Tupaea for their 2018 Mitre 10 Cup season at 19 years old.[2] He made his first professional team debut when he made the match-day fifteen at centre during the opening match against Manawatu at Central Energy Trust Arena.[3] Tupaea became a regular starter, starting in eleven from twelve apparences and scoring seven tries.[4] He also was a part of Waikato's historic Ranfurly Shield victory over Taranaki and their impressive top of the table finish.[5] Tupaea finished sixth equal as leading try scorer in the Mitre 10 Cup, including scoring a brace of tries against Bay of Plenty and Northland.[6] At seasons end, he achieved championship success after defeating Otago in order to gain promotion back into the top division and was awarded Emerging Player of the Year at the Waikato Rugby awards.[7]
In an ultimately disappointing 2019 Mitre 10 Cup season for Waikato, in which the team narrowly avoided relegation to the Championship, Tupaea was a standout player for both Waikato and among all of the Mitre 10 Cup players. He proved to be one of the most consistently high performing centres in the competition, finishing 5th on the try-scoring table, with 7 tries in 9 games. On the back of the 2019 Mitre 10 Cup season, Tupaea was announced[8] in the Chiefs Super Rugby squad for the 2020 Super Rugby season, at the age of 20.
Statistics
Club | Year | Competition | GP | GS | TRY | CON | PEN | DGL | PTS | WL% | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Waikato | 2018† | Mitre 10 Cup (incl. Ranfurly Shield) |
12 | 11 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 35 | 66.67 | 0 | 0 |
2019 | 9 | 9 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 35 | 22.22 | 0 | 0 | ||
2020 | 9 | 9 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 25 | 44.44 | 1 | 0 | ||
Chiefs | 2020 | Super Rugby | 12 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 25.00 | 0 | 0 |
Career | 42 | 36 | 20 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 100 | 40.48 | 1 | 0 |
Updated: 5 December 2020 Source: Quinn P C Tupaea Rugby History
References
- Belinda Feek (3 April 2007). "Concrete evidence of arsenal". Pressreader. Retrieved 22 May 2019.
- Joel Skulander (2 May 2018). "Waikato sign young local talent". Mooloo. Retrieved 22 May 2019.
- "PREVIEW: Manawatu v Waikato". Mitre 10 Cup. 17 August 2018. Retrieved 22 May 2019.
- "ITM Cup - SEASON 2018-2019 - Games played". It’s Rugby. 22 May 2019. Retrieved 22 May 2019.
- Joseph Pearson (10 September 2018). "Waikato hold on to claim stunning Ranfurly Shield victory against Taranaki". Stuff. Retrieved 22 May 2019.
- Sam Warlow (12 October 2018). "Rising star Quinn Tupaea is the missing piece for Super Rugby's most exciting backline". RugbyPass. Retrieved 22 May 2019.
- Joel Skulander (1 November 2018). "Gallagher 2018 Waikato Rugby Awards Evening". Mooloo. Retrieved 22 May 2019.
- "2020 GALLAGHER CHIEFS SQUAD ANNOUNCED". 12 November 2019. Retrieved 16 December 2019.
External links
- Quinn Tupaea at All Blacks.com
- Quinn Tupaea at It'sRugby.co.uk