'Tongan Thor' remains a Red

Tupou is yet to make his Super Rugby debut, but impressed enough in his first year of training with the squad to secure an upgrade to his contract ahead of the 2016 season.

The 19-year-old prop forward initially signed with the Reds ahead of the 2015 season, following impressive performances in New Zealand schools rugby.

He spent the 2015 season training with the Reds senior squad and went on to make his National Championship debut for Bond University Queensland Country, where he furthered his development in the set piece, while also scoring some trademark tries.

"Richard (Graham) and Nick (Stiles) have invested a lot of time into settling Taniela into the Reds family in 2015 and developing his technical skills. Taniela has impressed everyone, not only with his athletic ability, but with his enthusiasm to learn and improve.

"We look forward to continuing his development to reach his potential and we are excited by the contributions he will make to our team and the Reds environment over the next three years," Daniel Herbert, executive general manager, said.

Tupou said he was excited by the opportunity to continue his development at the Reds.

"I'm very happy to be at the Reds until 2018. I just love this place. When I came here from school, I didn't realise how hard it would be to play Super Rugby, but I've learnt a lot in the last year and I know I have to keep working hard to get a chance to play for the Reds.

"I just want to keep learning and hopefully I will get my opportunity to play Super Rugby for the Reds soon," Tupou said.

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