Reds rival rates Tupou a must for Lions, Cup success

Perth Now07-05-2025

Lukhan Salakaia-Loto reckons the Wallabies can forget about beating the British and Irish Lions or winning the home World Cup if selectors overlook Taniela Tupou.
The Queensland Reds lock delivered the rousing endorsement of his NSW Waratahs rival ahead of the sides' high-stakes Super Rugby Pacific clash in Sydney on Friday.
Prop Tupou was a menace at scrum time and in the collisions during his 88-game career at the Reds but failed to replicate that influence since moving to the Rebels and now Waratahs.
Salakaia-Loto enjoys a playful, public back-and-forth with his good friend Tupou, especially in the lead-up to a derby.
But he was quick to his defence on Wednesday when asked about the 51-Test prop's value to the Wallabies.
"If there's any chance we have in winning a Lions series and home World Cup (in 2027), he has to be involved," he said.
"We go through times when our form dips. He's only human, no exception.
"I'm really close with him, stay in touch pretty much daily.
"For the Wallabies to do well ... you've got to include him, I think everyone knows that.
"Get behind him and support him because we know that at his best, there's not many that come close."
Salakaia-Loto returned to Ballymore this season after a stint in England to provide stability for his young family and improve his Test chances.
Happy with his form, the 28-year-old expects the intensity to lift on Friday with the fourth-placed Reds and ninth-placed Waratahs at critical junctures.
"You're trying to prove yourself every week but this week's the perfect game to prove that, up against the old foe," he said of fighting for a Test spot.
"You'll see a lot of boys looking to have a big one.
"It's going to be highly emotional."
A last-minute try sunk the Reds in Fiji last week, pushing them six points behind third-placed ACT Brumbies, but with a game in hand.
A top-three finish secures a home quarter-final.
They'll welcome back Filipo Daugunu but lose Hunter Paisami (corked leg) in a midfield swap, while Josh Nasser's also back from injury in a boost to their dwindling hooker stocks.
"A lot of disappointment," coach Les Kiss said of the loss to the Fijian Drua.
"The boys have been up-front, taken that hit on the nose.
"We've got to move forward and (before playing the Waratahs) the pulse raises for sure."

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Birrell surprise as Joint prepares for Raducanu test

The Advertiser

7 hours ago

The Advertiser

Birrell surprise as Joint prepares for Raducanu test

Australian qualifier Kimberly Birrell has sprung a surprise at the Eastbourne Open, tipping out 2020 Australian Open champion and world No.29 Sofia Kenin in straight sets. Birrell, 27, the world No.77, bounced back from a first-round exit at Nottingham last week to put out Kenin, of the United States, 6-4 6-4 in the pre-Wimbledon tournament. It provides more encouragement for Gold Coast resident Birrell, who has reached the quarter-finals in Singapore and Brisbane, along with ventures to the second round at Miami and Rosmalen so far this year. She was also a success story at the Australian Open in January, where she won the mixed doubles with John-Patrick Smith. Another Australian, Maya Joint, who eliminated two-time Wimbledon runner-up Ons Jabeur on Monday, has discovered that her reward will be a second-round clash with home favourite Emma Raducanu. The British No.1 and seventh-seed had to recover from a first-set setback, deal with blustery conditions on England's south coast and manage a back problem on the way to a 6-7 (5-7) 6-3 6-1 win over Ann Li, of the United States. She also revealed that she had received "some pretty bad news" but added: "so I would like to keep it personal, if that's OK? "But it was difficult, very emotional at the end and probably just a release of different emotions." Raducanu has been troubled by her back since competing in Strasbourg before the French Open and took an off-court medical timeout during her quarter-final loss at Queen's Club earlier this month. But, aside from a slip and fall on the grass in set one, she appeared to come through her opening examination at Devonshire Park unscathed. "It feels incredible. I want to thank the crowd for getting me through some really sticky moments," the former US Open champion said in her on-court interview. "It really meant a lot to me and I'm really proud of how I fought back after losing the first set. I'm very, very happy to come through that. "It was tough, it was up and down, but from the middle of the second set I think I found another gear and a another level." Wimbledon champion Barbora Krejcikova retrieved two match points against British opponent Harriet Dart's serve before rallying to win her first-round tie. Dart was 40-15 up on serve leading 5-4 in the decisive third set of a rain-affected round-of-32 match that second-seeded Krejcikova went on win 6-3 6-7 (4-7) 7-5. It was just the second victory this year for the 17th-ranked Krejcikova, whose season did not start until May because of a back injury. Jessica Pegula and Jasmine Paolini had contrasting victories on the Bad Homburg grass on as the two top seeds progressed to the last eight in Germany. Top seed Pegula, of the United States, quickly dispatched qualifier Katerina Siniakova 6-3 6-2 in just over an hour. But Paolini, Italy's No.2 seed, needed two hours and 32 minutes to beat Canadian Leylah Fernandez 7-6 (10-8), 7-6 (8-6) in the joint second-longest two-set WTA match of 2025 so far. Poland's Iga Swiatek, the fourth seed who has never won Wimbledon despite five grand slam titles, also reached the last 16 after beating fellow former world No.1 Victoria Azarenka, of Belarus 6-4 6-4. Australian qualifier Kimberly Birrell has sprung a surprise at the Eastbourne Open, tipping out 2020 Australian Open champion and world No.29 Sofia Kenin in straight sets. Birrell, 27, the world No.77, bounced back from a first-round exit at Nottingham last week to put out Kenin, of the United States, 6-4 6-4 in the pre-Wimbledon tournament. It provides more encouragement for Gold Coast resident Birrell, who has reached the quarter-finals in Singapore and Brisbane, along with ventures to the second round at Miami and Rosmalen so far this year. She was also a success story at the Australian Open in January, where she won the mixed doubles with John-Patrick Smith. Another Australian, Maya Joint, who eliminated two-time Wimbledon runner-up Ons Jabeur on Monday, has discovered that her reward will be a second-round clash with home favourite Emma Raducanu. The British No.1 and seventh-seed had to recover from a first-set setback, deal with blustery conditions on England's south coast and manage a back problem on the way to a 6-7 (5-7) 6-3 6-1 win over Ann Li, of the United States. She also revealed that she had received "some pretty bad news" but added: "so I would like to keep it personal, if that's OK? "But it was difficult, very emotional at the end and probably just a release of different emotions." Raducanu has been troubled by her back since competing in Strasbourg before the French Open and took an off-court medical timeout during her quarter-final loss at Queen's Club earlier this month. But, aside from a slip and fall on the grass in set one, she appeared to come through her opening examination at Devonshire Park unscathed. "It feels incredible. I want to thank the crowd for getting me through some really sticky moments," the former US Open champion said in her on-court interview. "It really meant a lot to me and I'm really proud of how I fought back after losing the first set. I'm very, very happy to come through that. "It was tough, it was up and down, but from the middle of the second set I think I found another gear and a another level." Wimbledon champion Barbora Krejcikova retrieved two match points against British opponent Harriet Dart's serve before rallying to win her first-round tie. Dart was 40-15 up on serve leading 5-4 in the decisive third set of a rain-affected round-of-32 match that second-seeded Krejcikova went on win 6-3 6-7 (4-7) 7-5. It was just the second victory this year for the 17th-ranked Krejcikova, whose season did not start until May because of a back injury. Jessica Pegula and Jasmine Paolini had contrasting victories on the Bad Homburg grass on as the two top seeds progressed to the last eight in Germany. Top seed Pegula, of the United States, quickly dispatched qualifier Katerina Siniakova 6-3 6-2 in just over an hour. But Paolini, Italy's No.2 seed, needed two hours and 32 minutes to beat Canadian Leylah Fernandez 7-6 (10-8), 7-6 (8-6) in the joint second-longest two-set WTA match of 2025 so far. Poland's Iga Swiatek, the fourth seed who has never won Wimbledon despite five grand slam titles, also reached the last 16 after beating fellow former world No.1 Victoria Azarenka, of Belarus 6-4 6-4. Australian qualifier Kimberly Birrell has sprung a surprise at the Eastbourne Open, tipping out 2020 Australian Open champion and world No.29 Sofia Kenin in straight sets. Birrell, 27, the world No.77, bounced back from a first-round exit at Nottingham last week to put out Kenin, of the United States, 6-4 6-4 in the pre-Wimbledon tournament. It provides more encouragement for Gold Coast resident Birrell, who has reached the quarter-finals in Singapore and Brisbane, along with ventures to the second round at Miami and Rosmalen so far this year. She was also a success story at the Australian Open in January, where she won the mixed doubles with John-Patrick Smith. Another Australian, Maya Joint, who eliminated two-time Wimbledon runner-up Ons Jabeur on Monday, has discovered that her reward will be a second-round clash with home favourite Emma Raducanu. The British No.1 and seventh-seed had to recover from a first-set setback, deal with blustery conditions on England's south coast and manage a back problem on the way to a 6-7 (5-7) 6-3 6-1 win over Ann Li, of the United States. She also revealed that she had received "some pretty bad news" but added: "so I would like to keep it personal, if that's OK? "But it was difficult, very emotional at the end and probably just a release of different emotions." Raducanu has been troubled by her back since competing in Strasbourg before the French Open and took an off-court medical timeout during her quarter-final loss at Queen's Club earlier this month. But, aside from a slip and fall on the grass in set one, she appeared to come through her opening examination at Devonshire Park unscathed. "It feels incredible. I want to thank the crowd for getting me through some really sticky moments," the former US Open champion said in her on-court interview. "It really meant a lot to me and I'm really proud of how I fought back after losing the first set. I'm very, very happy to come through that. "It was tough, it was up and down, but from the middle of the second set I think I found another gear and a another level." Wimbledon champion Barbora Krejcikova retrieved two match points against British opponent Harriet Dart's serve before rallying to win her first-round tie. Dart was 40-15 up on serve leading 5-4 in the decisive third set of a rain-affected round-of-32 match that second-seeded Krejcikova went on win 6-3 6-7 (4-7) 7-5. It was just the second victory this year for the 17th-ranked Krejcikova, whose season did not start until May because of a back injury. Jessica Pegula and Jasmine Paolini had contrasting victories on the Bad Homburg grass on as the two top seeds progressed to the last eight in Germany. Top seed Pegula, of the United States, quickly dispatched qualifier Katerina Siniakova 6-3 6-2 in just over an hour. But Paolini, Italy's No.2 seed, needed two hours and 32 minutes to beat Canadian Leylah Fernandez 7-6 (10-8), 7-6 (8-6) in the joint second-longest two-set WTA match of 2025 so far. Poland's Iga Swiatek, the fourth seed who has never won Wimbledon despite five grand slam titles, also reached the last 16 after beating fellow former world No.1 Victoria Azarenka, of Belarus 6-4 6-4. Australian qualifier Kimberly Birrell has sprung a surprise at the Eastbourne Open, tipping out 2020 Australian Open champion and world No.29 Sofia Kenin in straight sets. Birrell, 27, the world No.77, bounced back from a first-round exit at Nottingham last week to put out Kenin, of the United States, 6-4 6-4 in the pre-Wimbledon tournament. It provides more encouragement for Gold Coast resident Birrell, who has reached the quarter-finals in Singapore and Brisbane, along with ventures to the second round at Miami and Rosmalen so far this year. She was also a success story at the Australian Open in January, where she won the mixed doubles with John-Patrick Smith. Another Australian, Maya Joint, who eliminated two-time Wimbledon runner-up Ons Jabeur on Monday, has discovered that her reward will be a second-round clash with home favourite Emma Raducanu. The British No.1 and seventh-seed had to recover from a first-set setback, deal with blustery conditions on England's south coast and manage a back problem on the way to a 6-7 (5-7) 6-3 6-1 win over Ann Li, of the United States. She also revealed that she had received "some pretty bad news" but added: "so I would like to keep it personal, if that's OK? "But it was difficult, very emotional at the end and probably just a release of different emotions." Raducanu has been troubled by her back since competing in Strasbourg before the French Open and took an off-court medical timeout during her quarter-final loss at Queen's Club earlier this month. But, aside from a slip and fall on the grass in set one, she appeared to come through her opening examination at Devonshire Park unscathed. "It feels incredible. I want to thank the crowd for getting me through some really sticky moments," the former US Open champion said in her on-court interview. "It really meant a lot to me and I'm really proud of how I fought back after losing the first set. I'm very, very happy to come through that. "It was tough, it was up and down, but from the middle of the second set I think I found another gear and a another level." Wimbledon champion Barbora Krejcikova retrieved two match points against British opponent Harriet Dart's serve before rallying to win her first-round tie. Dart was 40-15 up on serve leading 5-4 in the decisive third set of a rain-affected round-of-32 match that second-seeded Krejcikova went on win 6-3 6-7 (4-7) 7-5. It was just the second victory this year for the 17th-ranked Krejcikova, whose season did not start until May because of a back injury. Jessica Pegula and Jasmine Paolini had contrasting victories on the Bad Homburg grass on as the two top seeds progressed to the last eight in Germany. Top seed Pegula, of the United States, quickly dispatched qualifier Katerina Siniakova 6-3 6-2 in just over an hour. But Paolini, Italy's No.2 seed, needed two hours and 32 minutes to beat Canadian Leylah Fernandez 7-6 (10-8), 7-6 (8-6) in the joint second-longest two-set WTA match of 2025 so far. Poland's Iga Swiatek, the fourth seed who has never won Wimbledon despite five grand slam titles, also reached the last 16 after beating fellow former world No.1 Victoria Azarenka, of Belarus 6-4 6-4.