At Ballymore on June 30, 1973, Tonga beat Australia 16 points to 11 — a monumental victory that's never been repeated. Fa'aleo Tupi played in that legendary team. He would go on to play a pivotal role in bringing Polynesians to play rugby union in Australia.
abc.net.au/news/qld-faaleo-tupi-tongan-rugby-great-laid-to-rest/101377670Half a century later, people still talk about it — the day the Tongan rugby team made history by beating the Wallabies in Brisbane.
Fa'aleo Tupi played in that legendary team. He would go on to play a pivotal role in bringing Polynesians to play rugby union in Australia.Tupi, 72, was a colossus of a man in his playing days, standing 192 centimetres tall and weighing 120 kilograms. "It wasn't until we got into our teens that we understood how important he was and how important that Tongan team at the time was for that whole nation."Three years after that match at Ballymore, Tupi moved to Australia on a working visa alongside Fatai Kefu, father of Wallaby veteran Tautai Kefu."At the end of the 1975 season we'd won one game and got mercilessly belted every week," Souths Magpies Peter "Doubles" Daley remembered.
"They arrived and it almost had an immediate impact. We all of a sudden had this empowerment about us.For Fa'aleo Tupi and his family, life changed dramatically.
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