NO sooner had Sione Tuipulotu landed in Scotland than he was being summoned to the national team’s training camp to begin preparation for their summer schedule, which offered the Australian-born centre/wing an opportunity of a first cap for a country he had only set foot in once before on a school trip several years earlier.
It wasn’t to be, because a Covid outbreak in the squad meant that all three matches were cancelled, but Tuipulotu – whose name comes from his Tongan father – still treasures the experience.
“To be honest I was a bit of a mute,” he smiles. “I was just walking around trying to absorb as much as I could. I didn't know anyone, so I spent most of my time with Cole Forbes because of his Kiwi connection.
“I got to know a lot of the boys eventually but was definitely nervous going in there for the first time. Going into an international environment when you don't know anyone is pretty scary!”
Born and raised in Melbourne, Tuipulotu’s connection with the country he is now seeking to represent may seem tenuous from the outside looking in, but he insists that the influence of his Greenock-born maternal grandmother [Jaqueline Thomson] means there is a deep emotional connection.
“I’m really close with my Grandma and she has a thick Scottish accent so I always knew I was Scottish,” he explains. “But the possibility of coming over here only got real for me when I was about 21 or 22. That’s when my manager made it clear to me that Scottish Rugby were keen to possibly get me over.
“I think the timing just matched up perfectly for where I was with my rugby, where I was with my enjoyment levels, and where I wanted to go next. I’m happy I’ve made that decision.”
It has been a fairly roundabout route which has brought Tuipulotu to this point. Having burst onto the Super Rugby scene for his local franchise, Melbourne Rebels, as an 18-year-old, and having also featured in the national Under-20s side over three seasons – scoring two tries against a Scotland team containing some of his new team-mates including Zander Fagerson, Scott Cummings and Ally Miller during the 2016 Junior World Championship – he seemed destined for great things in his native Australia.
However, his career did not quite kick-on as forecast, and he ended up looking towards Japan to get things back on track, joining Yamaha Jubilo in 2018, initially on a short-term deal which ended up being extended to two seasons.
“I was lucky enough to get signed [by the Rebels] out of school and was playing straight away and everything was working out quite well for me, but then there was some restructuring around the Super Rugby Australia teams where the [Western] Force got cut and a lot of their players and their coach Dave Wessels moved over to Melbourne,” he recalls.
“In the first year Dave was there, I didn’t play as regularly as I would have liked, and I think that got to me a bit because my rugby career had moved so fast up until that point. I suppose I just got to a bit of a roadblock with the new coach and that is when I made my decision to move to Japan.
“I was really grateful to go over there and make a good living for my family and also play a fun style of rugby. I started to love the game again. I think in that period when I was at the Rebels and not playing regularly, I lost my love for the game a bit, and then when I went to Japan I re-found it completely. I don’t think I would be over here if I hadn’t gone to Japan.”
Having got his game back on track, Tuipulotu soon found himself at another cross-roads.
“I went home when my first full season in Japan got called because of Covid, and my manager said that the Scottish Rugby Union had got in contact and asked about the possibility of continuing my rugby over here,” he explains.
“I spoke with Gregor Townsend over Facetime and with Danny as well and they basically gave me the rundown about how it would be a good move for me. I went into my last season in Japan kind of weighing up the decision: whether to stay in Japan, go back to Australia or come over to Scotland, and I’m really glad I made the decision to come over to Scotland.”
“I suppose if you’re young in Japan you’ve really got two options,” he adds. “If you want to stay there it’s to play for Japan - you go for your passport. A lot of players have gone down that route and done really well.
“I was thinking about doing that but I thought it would mean a lot more to me to play for a country I had heritage with. That’s basically what led to my decision to come over here. I really wanted to play Test footie, or try to play Test footie, for a country where I have heritage.”
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