For Sione Tuipulotu, a dream homecoming continues. On Saturday, the Scotland centre became a British and Irish Lions try-scorer, setting the first Test winners on their way after collecting Finn Russell’s pass and scooting over in Brisbane; on Sunday, the 28-year-old boarded a flight to his hometown, a victorious Victorian back in Melbourne and relishing the prospect of sealing the series at the MCG next Saturday.
Tuipulotu has spoken ever since being selected of his belief in a higher power twisting the fates so neatly for this special return; certainly, there has been a sense of preordained destiny about his trip to make agnostics and infidels consider whether he might be right. The inside centre might not even have started the first Test if not for the sliding doors caused by Garry Ringrose’s injury, and yet there could be no more fitting opening try-scorer – Tuipulotu may be Australian by birth, but no-one has spoken with more emotion about what being a Lions means to him.
“It’s kind of crazy that we can close out the series in my hometown where I grew up,” Tuipulotu says. “We left a lot of points out there in the first half. The game should have been done a long time. The first 30-40 minutes, we could have put enough points on there to really put a nail in the coffin. But to go back to Melbourne this week, hopefully play in front of my family, the stars have aligned for me and I feel very grateful.”
Among the gathered family and friends in Melbourne it is hoped will be Jaqueline Thomson, the now-famous “Greenock Granny” through which Tuipulotu and brother Mosese qualify for Scotland. Thomson – whose age her grandson dare not reveal for fear of a slap – flew home to surprise the brothers at Murrayfield last November but this will be a first opportunity to watch Sione in Australia since the switch to Glasgow that changed Tuipulotu’s life in 2021.
On the Lions last visit here in 2013, Mosese was a flag-bearer; his brother looks set to continue in an even more central role. Part of the first all-Scottish Lions Test midfield in history, Tuipulotu looked right at home at the heart of the tourists attack at Suncorp Stadium, aided by the natural chemistry and cohesion transferred from Scotland camp.
“Having Finn inside me and [Huw Jones] outside me made it pretty special for me,” Tuipulotu admits. “I’m so familiar with those boys. I’ve been rooming with Finn this whole week. Being around him made me not overreact to the occasion. It felt like we were playing a Scotland game together. His nature helps everyone and calms everyone. Then you add to that that he’s got one of the best skillsets of any 10 in the world, it’s a joy to play with.”
It was Russell’s floated pass on to which Tuipulotu darted to snare his score, the fly half readjusting on the fly having been considering a crosskick to Tommy Freeman once he had spotted the space. “I can’t take any credit for it, that’s him finding me. He threw a pretty similar pass a few years ago [in 2018] against England to Huw Jones off his left hand. It was kind of weird, when he was throwing it I was kind of thinking of that, thinking he was going to throw it into that space. I didn’t have to do much, just had to accelerate and catch the ball. That’s why playing with special players is pretty cool.”
Tuipulotu has been the Lions’ appointed tour guide on the bus during this trip – though has, he freely admits, let the squad down with a lack of knowledge of the cities visited so far. That will change in Melbourne. Tuipulotu grew up in the suburb of Frankston and credits rugby and private school from keeping him out of the tough situations other peers fell into.
Not that his journey thereafter was smooth or straightforward. With no long-term Super Rugby contract forthcoming from the Rebels, Tuipulotu first sought a professional career in Japan before finding a home in Glasgow. It would be easy to linger on the resentment of those early career snubs but Tuipulotu prefers to look at the positives.
“I think if you’d asked me when I first moved from Melbourne I would say, yeah it is personal. There is still a chip on my shoulder, what has got me to this point is having that chip on my shoulder.
“But in terms of me being bitter about Australian rugby, not at all, mate. I wasn’t good enough to play for the Wallabies when I was in Melbourne. It wasn’t a selector problem, I wasn’t good enough, that’s plain and simple. I owe everything to Scottish rugby because they’ve made me the player that I am today. Now I get the chance to go back to Melbourne and play in my home city and hopefully close out a Test series.”
Before then, though, comes a fixture of great meaning. The First Nations & Pasifika XV formed to take on the Lions at Melbourne’s Marvel Stadium on Tuesday celebrates the heritage of two communities that have given plenty to Australian rugby, and Tuipulotu, son of a Tongan father, has several friends ready to prove a point if the Lions at all ease up between Tests.
“The more games the better,” Tuipulotu says. “The exposure that those players get when playing against the Lions, I think it’s really special. I grew up with [flanker] Rob Leota. I know it’s really special for those players and we’re going to have to be up for it and not be caught between two Tests, we want to win that game.”
