
Sione Tuipulotu fuelled by ‘chip on shoulder' as he returns to Melbourne
Six years ago he left for Japan, angry that his time at the Melbourne Rebels had failed to produce international recognition beyond the Junior Wallabies and having taken up an offer to play for Glasgow, he qualified for Scotland through his grandmother.
The 28-year-old has never looked back, going on to captain his adopted homeland while becoming one of the game's finest centres. No longer bitter at being rejected by Australia, he realises the scars have served him well.
'If you had asked me when I first moved from Melbourne I would say yeah, it's personal,' Tuipulotu said.
'There's 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.
'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. The stars have aligned for me and I feel very grateful.'
Tuipulotu was installed at inside centre ahead of Bundee Aki for the series opener in Brisbane and Andy Farrell's decision was rewarded with the Scotland captain's best performance on tour.
Recovery from the damaged pectoral muscle that forced him to miss the Six Nations has proved challenging and it is only now that the hard-running, ball-playing midfielder is finding his stride.
A first-half try decorated his evening's work at Suncorp Stadium, which was made easier by the presence of his Scotland team-mates Finn Russell and Huw Jones.
'It was such a huge occasion but having Finn inside me and Huw outside me made it pretty special. I'm so familiar with those boys,' he said.
'I've been rooming with Finn this whole week and being around him made me not overreact to the occasion.
Finn 🤝 Sione
Sione gets the first try of the match in Brisbane 👊 https://t.co/ClFv2Zi0FU pic.twitter.com/jOQQnRxGfd
— Scottish Rugby (@Scotlandteam) July 19, 2025
'It felt like we were playing a Scotland game together because we room together back with Scotland.
'His nature helps everyone and calms everyone. Then you add to that that he's got one of the best skill sets of any 10 in the world and it's a joy to play with.
'Everyone knows what I think about Huw Jones. It just feels like he's bigger and faster than everyone.'
The Lions know Australia will throw everything at them at Melbourne Cricket Ground – and intend hitting back hard.
'We expect them to be desperate but not more desperate than us because we're trying to close out a series next Saturday,' Tuipulotu said.
'We were pretty dominant in the first Test but the good thing for us is that it was nowhere near our best performance.'
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Scotsman
2 hours ago
- Scotsman
The Scottish football teamsheet that might be worth a pretty penny after historic night
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Advertisement Hide Ad Advertisement Hide Ad It is most definitely a collector's item and now I am kicking myself for having spoiled it. Next to each United player's name, I have scribbled the country for whom they are eligible to play international football. Not once did I have to write 'Scotland', which is why the teamsheet, albeit slightly defaced (my bad), could merit a place in a Scottish football museum in time. Not one Scot featured in the starting XI for Dundee United against UNA Strassen. | SNS Group As you'll be aware by now, for the first time in Dundee United's proud history, a club that once provided five players for a Scotland World Cup squad and were regarded as the last word in developing young Scottish talent sent out a team without a single Scot in it on Thursday evening. I even heard it described as the saddest teamsheet in the club's history – Steve Clarke, the current Scotland manager, might well agree. 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Still, I wondered as I passed Club '83 on St Salvador Street after Thursday's game whether United's first non-Scottish XI might be the main topic of discussion at the bar or would it be shrugged off as just what happens now. It's modern football, innit? Rangers' team of 2000 Not even so modern. After all, it's now over 25 years – March 2000 – since Rangers fielded a team without a Scot in it for the first time. Looking back at contemporary reports, this seemingly historic event barely rated a mention as the Ibrox side were held 0-0 at home by St Johnstone. Maybe, given Rangers had been accused of buying success since the Souness Revolution, it just felt like the logical next step. Celtic, meanwhile, were behind the curve. It was not until 8 September 2001 in a 3-1 win over Dunfermline that they emulated Rangers on this score with a team including the likes of Dmitri Kharine (Russia) and Olivier Tebily (Ivory Coast). 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The Guardian
2 hours ago
- The Guardian
How do you bounce back from defeat in a first Lions Test? In 2009, our response was brutal
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Daily Mirror
3 hours ago
- Daily Mirror
Cadillac have chosen the two F1 stars they want to sign for 2026
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