Wallabies star Angus Bell expects to be packing down with "freak of nature" Taniela Tupou against the British and Irish Lions despite the man himself expressing grave doubts.
Tupou, a 29-year-old veteran of 58 Tests, should in theory be in his prime as a destructive tighthead.
He is happy off the field at the NSW Waratahs but not on it and opened up in an extraordinarily frank interview with The Sydney Morning Herald last month.
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The 'Tongan Thor' said he was "no chance" of being selected for the Wallabies against the Lions and was too nervous to play in the carefree manner that he used to.
"Sometimes, I go out there, and I finish the game, and I'm like, 'f— me, do I know how to play rugby any more, or what?' It feels like I just don't know what I'm doing, you know?"
Tupou has since shown flashes of returning to his world class best but again raised concern when he was yellow carded for tripping Western Force's Hamish Stewart.
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Wallabies coach Joe Schmidt will name his squad after the ACT Brumbies' season ends.
The Brumbies are playing the Chiefs in a Super Rugby Pacific semi-final in Hamilton on Saturday.
"We know how important Taniela is for Australian rugby," Bell told reporters after meeting some actual Lions at Sydney's Taronga Zoo.
"If we're going to compete and beat the Lions, Taniela will be in and around the team and squad. We know how important he is and what he can do when he's in his career best form.
"He's working really hard at NSW and he's working really hard at camps to get himself there. We believe in Nella, he's a mate, he's a freak of nature and we all know that.
"So look, he's happy and he's looking forward to the Tests and he's excited too – as well as everyone else in Australian rugby. It's a pretty cool time but, yeah, Taniela will be awesome this year I reckon."
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Brumbies captain Allan Alaalatoa is likely to start at tighthead prop against the Lions in the first Test in Brisbane on July 19.
All going well, Tupou will provide impact from the bench while Bell and veteran James Slipper will share the loosehead duties.
"It's good for Joe because he's got a lot of selection headaches, which is awesome for Australian rugby," Bell said.
"It's now become a real strength of Australia, that not every position is locked down so everyone's just got to keep fighting for positions.
"Allan's a world class player. He's an amazing leader and he's levelled up his game this year, obviously coming off the back of an Achilles rupture last year.
"He might have been questionable on his Achilles, which is something that I had to go through with my toe. Allan's absolutely killing it this year and it's awesome to see.
"James Slipper's probably in career best form too so I look at it as a positive, we all push each other to get better and if I'm scrummaging against Allan at training or at camps, then that'll make me better.
"Really happy for him after the year that he had in 2023 (missing the Rugby World Cup).
"And really looking forward to what he'll do this year in the gold jersey."
