Meet Kepu Tuipulotu, the teenager whose cousins include Billy Vunipola, Mako Vunipola, Toby Faletau and Sione Tuipulotu. His middle name is Rodney but we will come to that later.
The first thing you notice as he sits down to introduce himself is the size of his thighs. They are some of the biggest you will see, bulging outwards like two giant cuts of ham, testing the seams of his shorts.
‘They’re quite big aren’t they,’ he chuckles. ‘It’s hard finding jeans. I get a 38-inch waist but they’re quite tight on the thighs. They don’t fit my legs too well!’
It is easy to forget that he was still wearing school uniform last year. Tuipulotu is a 19-year-old hooker from one of rugby’s richest bloodlines. His family holidays are the stuff of legend, the making of one of England’s next breakthrough stars.
‘We had family camping trips to north Wales when I was younger,’ he recalls. ‘We’d go for four or five days, staying in tents, having campfires, singing hymns. The Tongan community is quite small so all my cousins would be there. The Vunipolas, the Faletaus.
‘My youngest memory is our games of touch, around 2014. My cousins were all quite a bit older than me – I was eight and they were all established in their careers – so I was this annoying kid, flying into them, trying to rile them up.
Kepu Tuipulotu is one of the faces of England rugby’s future and sat down with Mail Sport
He is known for his powerful thighs and top speed of 21mph – lightning quick for a hooker
Tuipulotu won man of the match as England Under 20s beat Scotland last week to make it three wins from three in their title defence
‘It would slowly build up and eventually I’d try and throw some shots. They would put me back on my a**e and I’d come off crying. I’m still the annoying one but now they’ve softened up on me a bit, thankfully.’
These days, Tuipulotu is the one knocking people backwards. Playing for Bath and England Under 20s, he is blessed with the powerful genes of his elder cousins.
He already lifts 210kg on the squat rack and runs a top speed of 21mph – that’s not far off flying winger pace. But it is also raw Polynesian strength that cannot be coached and Steve Borthwick has already taken note.
Tuipulotu was born in Pontypool in Monmouthshire, Wales. Following the 1999 World Cup, a community of Polynesian rugby players settled in the country and Tuipulotu’s father, Sione – namesake of Kepu’s cousin, the current Scotland captain – was among them. He played across the backline for Newport for three years, winning 28 caps for Tonga.
‘I was born in Newport,’ explains the teenager. ‘My middle name comes from the Dragons’ home ground, Rodney Parade. My dad was playing there when I was being born so he thought it was a good name to pick.
‘Fortunately, he just made it “Rodney” and not “Rodney Parade”! Dad played for Worcester and then we came back in 2015. We’re still living in Wales but when I got a scholarship to Caldicott (Prep School, in Buckinghamshire) and Harrow, my Welsh accent slowly disintegrated.’
His eligibility is a thorny issue. His sister, Sisilia, plays for Wales women’s team, his cousin Carwyn for the men’s Under 20s, and last year Warren Gatland was desperate for the young hooker to follow suit.
Those in Wales feel like the RFU have performed a land grab on one of their brightest talents, having backed World Rugby’s tweaks to the eligibility laws to include educational residency. Gatland tried to recruit Tuipulotu for the 2024 Six Nations but instead he committed himself to England.
Toby Faletau (centre) and Mako Vunipola (tackling him) are both Tuipulotu’s cousins and would go on camping holidays with him when they were already established Test stars
He was targeted by Wales before last year’s Six Nations but rejected them to stay with England
‘It was quite a hard decision,’ says the hooker, who was part of the England team that won last year’s Under 20 World Cup. ‘My sister plays for Wales and I was born there, but it was a case of, “How can I be the best I can be?” Last year, when I was still at school, I got called up into Wales’ men’s Six Nations camp.
‘I thought, “Yeah sweet!” but then I had conversations with my dad and Mark Mapletoft, who coaches England Under 20.
‘I was still in school, hadn’t finished my exams, and I decided that saying no and keeping my options open would be the best thing to do.
‘I had just turned 18, it wasn’t the right moment to be playing men’s rugby. They were both incredible opportunities but the England pathway was the right fit for me.’
Borthwick has already invited Tuipulotu to spend time in the senior camp. His name features on long-term depth charts, alongside the likes of Luke Cowan-Dickie and Jamie George.
Last Friday night he reinforced his reputation with another man-of-the-match performance against Scotland Under 20s, scoring a powerful try and setting up another with a delicate grubber kick as England made it three wins from three in their Six Nations title defence.
Up to 10 of this year’s England Under 20s have been earmarked by the senior team and Tuipulotu wants to see them pushing for selection within the next 24 months.
‘We were talking about the 2027 World Cup one night in camp, how many players are gunning to represent the rose at that competition,’ he says. ‘Everyone would love to have the whole team there but if half us make it that would be pretty special.
Tuipulotu wants to be part of a large group of Under 20s stars who make it to the senior team
He states his desire to go on to play for the senior team and then the British & Irish Lions
Tuipulotu joined Bath last summer and scored a hat-trick of tries on his professional debut in the Premiership Rugby Cup against Ampthill in November
‘We have a brotherhood in the Under 20s. Doing the back-to-back World Cup this year would be a real strong drive to us towards 2027. We’ve talked about the French Under 20 team that did it (in 2018, 2019 and 2023). How many players from there now represent the French team? Romain Ntamack, Cameron Woki, half the forwards…
‘I want to get there as quick as I can. I want to go out there and test the hookers around. I don’t want to go out there when I’m not ready, but when I’m ready I’m there, putting out a statement.
‘My goal is to go to the highest level, play for my country and go further onto the Lions. My goal is to break through in the next two years. Have a successful year here with the Under 20s and then crack on and pursue that senior squad.’
Flanker Henry Pollock has already featured in this year’s wider Six Nations squad, while lock Junior Kpoku was invited into senior training this month.
‘I’ve chatted to Steve (Borthwick) a few times,’ he reveals. ‘You see Pollock do it and you want to follow.
‘I went into camp before England played Japan in the autumn Tests to watch and observe. It was pretty surreal, meeting all the coaches.
‘I was under Richard Hill’s wing but I was there observing Jamie George and Theo Dan, seeing how they go about their process and how the team comes together.
‘If I want to be one of the best, I’ve got to train like the best.’
Tuipulotu has no shortage of mentors. As a hooker, he zones in on Theo Dan’s low centre of gravity, Dan Sheehan’s ability around the pitch and Malcolm Marx’s jackalling threats.
Tuipulotu has already been invited into England senior camp to learn from them
Tuipulotu regularly picks the brain of his cousin Billy Vunipola, who has 75 England caps
Closer to home, he can do worse than to get on the phone to his cousins. ‘I played against Saracens in the academy league last season and stayed with Billy (Vunipola) so he could drop me at the game,’ he says.
‘It’s cool having those guys there to lean on for advice; rugby-related stuff or just life. I ask Bill about ball carrying, trucking up into collisions, and how I can integrate that.
‘Whenever Sione comes down with Glasgow or Scotland and plays in Wales, we go and watch his games. I text him sometimes, look at how he manipulates the defence and always picks the right option.
‘Pumping and going, offloading. If I could have some of their success, yeah, that would be pretty cool.’
With a few words of family wisdom in his ear, the future looks bright for Tuipulotu. In the words of Del Boy: ‘Brace yourself, Rodney,’ because it could be an exciting ride.
