Wallabies lock Lukhan Salakaia-Loto was beaming with pride as he reflected on the return of good mate Taniela Tupou, confident there's no one else like him at his best.
The two will hope to continue their decade-long partnership as they prepare for a tough contest against Argentina in Jujuy on Sunday.
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Salakaia-Loto made his return to the Test side earlier in the month during a thumping win over Japan in Townsville alongside Tupou in the tight five.
Tupou wrote himself into the history books, becoming just the second prop in Wallabies history and the first in over 70 years to score a double in the gold jersey.
“It's good to see him play some footy that we know he's capable of," he told reporters.
“His performance against Japan in Townsville gave us a bit of a glimpse, a bit of a throwback to what it was like five or six years ago.
“It was good to see him do the things that we know he's capable of because when he does do stuff like that, f***, I don't think there's many props like him out there.”
The pair remain close as it comes, having moved together to the Melbourne Rebels after coming through the ranks of Ballymore together.
Tupou has since taken a page out of Salakaia-Loto's book and experienced a European resurgence, saying it was 'the change he needed' to re-find his damaging best.
Salakaia-Loto was full of pride about his old mate's return, relishing the chance to play together before Tupou returns to Top 14 side Racing 92.
“We've played a lot of footy together and done a lot of growing up together," Salakaia-Loto said of his good mate.
“We came through the Reds system, having kids, and now our kids spend a lot of time together when we're in the same city, so I think there's a lot of connection there between myself and ‘Nela.
“When you play alongside someone who's so close to you, you're probably digging a little bit deeper and I've got a connection like that with a fair few other boys in the squad."
The duo have emerged at the forefront of a more direct style of Rugby which new coach Les Kiss has been preaching, using their world-class physicality alongside the likes of Angus Bell and Rob Valetini, to name a few.
The Reds lock knows there's a step up needed to match it with Los Pumas, who return with the same squad that almost took down the Springboks a fortnight ago, albeit depleted of several European stars.
“Let’s not kid ourselves, you want to be doing that against the top teams and no disrespect to [Italy and Japan], but for where we want to go and what we know we're capable of, we should be doing that against sides like that," he said on the new style of play.
“The challenge for us is to go over to Argentina where it's a tough place to play and do the same and then three games after that were pretty tough.
“It's awesome to do it in a Test arena against Italy and Japan in the last three games, but this tour to Argentina poses a different threat. A bigger fish that we need to try and fry.
“In terms of how we play the game as Australians, I think in order to play that fast-paced attack and run, be skilful out wide with some of the weapons that we do possess, it's pretty hard to be doing that when you're going backwards up front. The challenge for us is to do it against the top teams."
