Quinn Tupaea

Quinn Puketahinga Claude Tupaea (/tuːˈpʌɪˈjə/; born 10 May 1999) is a New Zealand professional rugby union player 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.

Quinn Tupaea
Tupaea representing the All Blacks against Italy in 2021
Full nameQuinn Puketahinga Claude Tupaea
Date of birth (1999-05-10) 10 May 1999
Place of birthHamilton, New Zealand
Height187 cm (6 ft 2 in)
Weight102 kg (225 lb; 16 st 1 lb)
SchoolHamilton Boys' High School
Rugby union career
Position(s) Centre, Flanker, Wing
Current team Waikato, Chiefs
Senior career
Years Team Apps (Points)
2018– Waikato 32 (95)
2020– Chiefs 34 (30)
Correct as of 9 July 2022
International career
Years Team Apps (Points)
2019 New Zealand U20 7 (20)
2020 Māori All Blacks 1 (0)
2021– New Zealand 9 (10)
Correct as of 9 July 2022

Early life

Quinn Tupaea was born on 10 May 1999 in Hamilton, the son of Brent and Kelly Tupaea.[1] He attended Southwell School and Hamilton Boys' High School.

Professional career

Waikato

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 appearances 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.

Chiefs

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.

International career

Tupaea made his international debut for New Zealand on 3 July 2021 against Tonga at Auckland.[9][10][11]

Statistics
ClubYearCompetitionGPGSTRYCONPENDGLPTSWL%Yellow cardRed card
Waikato 2018† Bunnings NPC
(incl. Ranfurly Shield)		 121170003566.6700
2019 9970003522.2200
2020 9950002544.4410
2021† 2100000100.0000
Chiefs 2020 Super Rugby Pacific 1271000525.0000
2021 760000071.4300
2022 151450002566.6720
Career 66572500012551.5230

Updated: 12 June 2022 Source: Quinn P C Tupaea Rugby History

List of international test tries
TryDateVenueOpponentResultCompetition
1 23 October 2021 FedExField, Summerfield, Maryland, United States United States 14–104 (won) New Zealand Tour

Updated: 12 June 2022 Source: Quinn P C Tupaea Statsguru

References
  1. Belinda Feek (3 April 2007). "Concrete evidence of arsenal". Pressreader. Retrieved 22 May 2019.
  2. Joel Skulander (2 May 2018). "Waikato sign young local talent". Mooloo. Retrieved 22 May 2019.
  3. "PREVIEW: Manawatu v Waikato". Mitre 10 Cup. 17 August 2018. Retrieved 22 May 2019.
  4. "ITM Cup - SEASON 2018-2019 - Games played". It’s Rugby. 22 May 2019. Retrieved 22 May 2019.
  5. Joseph Pearson (10 September 2018). "Waikato hold on to claim stunning Ranfurly Shield victory against Taranaki". Stuff. Retrieved 22 May 2019.
  6. 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.
  7. Joel Skulander (1 November 2018). "Gallagher 2018 Waikato Rugby Awards Evening". Mooloo. Retrieved 22 May 2019.
  8. "2020 GALLAGHER CHIEFS SQUAD ANNOUNCED". 12 November 2019. Retrieved 16 December 2019.
  9. Cully, Paul (3 July 2021). "All Blacks v Tonga: Quinn Tupaea shines on debut in dispiriting mismatch". Stuff. Retrieved 30 June 2022.
  10. Powell, Alex (22 May 2022). "Super Rugby Pacific: Chiefs midfield maestro Quinn Tupaea tipped to solve All Blacks No.12 dilemma". Newshub. Retrieved 30 June 2022.
  11. Skippers, David (1 July 2021). "Quinn Tupaea to make All Blacks debut against Tonga". PlanetRugby. Retrieved 30 June 2022.
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