Tongan Thor crushes Argentinian enforcer with 265 kg collision
Most players will attest that running into Taniela Tupou is not a pleasant experience, but seeing the Wallabies tighthead fly out of the line at the speed of light to make a tackle looks terrifying.
Argentinian hard man Tomas Lavinini would have only seen an enormous yellow blur when he looked up after receiving the ball in the second half yesterday at the Estadio San Juan del Bicentenario, as Tupou set off like a missile to smash the 2.01 metre, 130 kg lock. And ‘Tongan Thor’ certainly got hold of his man, smashing the former Leicester Tigers forward backwards in a textbook, perfectly legal tackle.
It once again shows that it is perfectly easy to make massive hits in this day and age. It was perhaps made all the more impressive that it was against the Pumas’ enforcer.
Take a look at the hit:
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One tackle does not win a match though, obviously, as a hugely depleted Wallabies side fell to their biggest ever loss to the Pumas, 48-17.
“Massive disappointment,” said Wallabies coach Dave Rennie after the match.
“We conceded four tries with kicks in behind us and certainly got dominated in the collision area.
“We want to earn the respect of the country and you don’t do it with a performance like that.”
Even though the Wallabies are in the middle of one of the biggest injury crises any side has ever faced, Rennie did not use that as an excuse after the match, saying: “We had a good enough side to do the job … whoever pulls the jersey on has got to front and we weren’t good enough.”
The result leaves Argentina at the top of the Rugby Championship table with Australia in second, after the All Blacks beat South Africa in Johannesburg earlier on Saturday.
