France’s 149kg monster Posolo becomes the latest Tuilagi to destroy New Zealand
At the age of 32 now, many players from the All Blacks must be thinking that they must only have a couple more years of England’s Manu Tuilagi terrorising them like he has for more than a decade. The bad news for them is that there is another Tuilagi that is bigger and heavier who is ready continue the family business of smashing All Blacks, and the even worse news is that he is only 18.
That is Posolo Tuilagi, the son of Manu’s older brother Henry, who has only enhanced his reputation this week in South Africa during the World Rugby U20 Championship. The Perpignan lock has already started to amass an impressive highlights reel of grown men in the Top 14 that are unable to stop his 149kg mass, so the chances were slim that under-20 players were going to do any better.
Making his first start of the Championship against the Baby Blacks, Posolo already had two tries to his name by half time, as France raced to a 21-0 lead at the break. While he did not add to his try scoring tally in the second half, he was named the player of the match as France comprehensively beat New Zealand 35-14 at Paarl Gimnasium.
While scoring two tries is impressive, perhaps his best intervention of the entire game came in the last quarter after New Zealand had scored their second try to make the score 28-14. For the first time in the match they started to have some momentum, and the beefy French pack looked a bit tired. Tuilagi rocked up with a carry where it looked like the entire New Zealand team and coaching staff were trying to stop him. Though he did not score, he carried the ball deep into the opponent’s half, which led to his second row partner Brent Liufau going over for the try.
Watch out to anyone facing France this tournament.
Watch the highlights of his match here:
⚡️[Highlights] – Posolo Tuilagi vs U20 New Zealand – World Rugby U20 Championship#FRANZL #FRAvNZ #WorldRugbyU20s pic.twitter.com/qrp1BnPEkU
— Cyp (@SprinterEmerite) June 29, 2023
