Wallabies vow to meet Barrett and Tupaea physically in Sydney Bledisloe decider

The Wallabies have singled out All Blacks centres Jordie Barrett and Quinn Tupaea as the dangers they must neutralise physically when the two sides meet in Sydney on Saturday in the second Bledisloe Cup Test.

Barrett was a commanding presence at Eden Park the previous weekend, winning aerial contests and making dominant tackles that earned penalties at the breakdown. Tupaea, meanwhile, caused problems with his hard-running carries and threat over the ball — a combination that has made the pair New Zealand’s first-choice midfield since Tupaea was shifted to outside centre last year, a move that yielded a breakout double-try performance in Perth during the 2025 corresponding fixture.

“Quinn Tupaea is a hard ball carrier. He took it into contact well,” said Wallabies winger Harry Potter, who came off the bench in Auckland after starting second five-eighth Len Ikitau was forced off with injury. “Certainly two threats that we’re going to have to deal with physically this week in order to get the result.”

Potter also noted that Barrett’s aerial presence was used to great effect by the All Blacks, including a contest he won over Joseph Suaalii in the build-up to New Zealand’s opening try. Suaalii, who returned to midfield after Potter’s introduction, acknowledged the aerial duel as an area requiring adjustment but was guarded about specifics.

“It’s hard. I don’t really want to speak about it because I don’t want to give them our game plan going in for this week,” Suaalii said. “We know what we need to do going into this Saturday. Very confident in our coaches and us as boys to really focus on that area.”

Suaalii, a former NRL winger who is himself a significant aerial threat, pointed to the technical differences between rugby league and union kicking as part of the challenge. “The flight of the ball is different. It’s just on us lads to work on it and get better,” he said.

Potter also touched on the evolving tactical landscape around the aerial contest following rule changes on escorting, noting that teams across the game are still searching for the most effective approaches. “There used to be escorts, and teams got really, really good at that,” he said. “It’s been a real interesting evolution of what the tactics are over the last two years.”

With Tupaea’s double-try haul from the Perth fixture fresh in Australian minds, the Wallabies will be under pressure to contain a midfield combination that has grown increasingly difficult to stop.