The inaugural Brisbane Global Tens was played over the weekend with many big name teams included, so there were many familiar names, great tries and bone-jarring hits. This one in particular between Taniela Tupou and veteran All Black Liam Messam stood out.
Despite it being a different format, the tournament served as a good warmup for the upcoming 2017 Super Rugby season, which starts next week Thursday.
Young Tupou has made quite the name for himself in recent seasons as he’s run over, or through, anything that’s decided to get in his way. He is listed at 135kg by the Reds, while Messam is listed with the Chiefs at a “mere” 108kg.
The affectionately known ‘Tongan Thor’ got up a full head of steam with this run, but full credit to Messam, who is never one to shy away from the more physical aspects of the game.
Although he didn’t quite hold his ground, at no point did he look to be bothered with getting out of the way of the rampaging Tupou. As a result, we had this intense collision, between two incredibly physical players, that may well have been recorded on the Richter Scale.
The collision sent Messam flying backwards, and Tupou stumbling into touch.
The young tank then lost his cool a little, and has since been suspended for two weeks after he decided to head-butt Messam after the whistle.
Messam later had the last laugh again, as the Chiefs went on to win the inaugural tournament.
Credit: gorillaSportsShow
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