Sione Tuipulotu credits his rise to Scotland captain on ‘heart and soul’

EDINBURGH, Scotland (AP) — It seems Sione Tuipulotu has become a world-class center and Scotland’s new captain in no time at all.

Not true, the Australian with Tongan heritage explained on Friday, a day before he leads Scotland against Fiji at Murrayfield.

His ascent from seemingly nowhere came from working “heart and soul” on his game.

Tuipulotu added he was spinning wheels at the Melbourne Rebels and didn’t rediscover his love of rugby until he spent a season at the Shizuoka Blue Revs in Japan.

From there, he made the jump during the COVID pandemic in 2021 to Scotland, for which he qualified through his grandmother.

Before the year was out, he debuted for Scotland against Tonga.

“Coming over here, it’s never that I’ve had it all worked out, but more that always in the back of my mind, I had a vision for myself. I believed in my talent,” he said after the captain’s run.

“I’m so glad I made the move to come over. The progress I’ve made probably doesn’t surprise me because I put my heart and soul into my journey here and I’ve worked really hard to get to this point, not only with Scotland, but also with Glasgow.

“I think in professional sport, you get lucky sometimes and you land in the lap of coaches that have that same vision that you do for yourself, so I put it down to having a vision for myself and coaches believing in me.”

Already capped 27 times, he is expected by many to be on the British and Irish Lions tour of Australia next year.

When Tuipulotu was named as captain last week, coach Gregor Townsend said, “He often sets the emotional tone and mindset required for the team and he also contributes significantly to both our attack and defense.”

Finn Russell and Rory Darge, the co-captains during the Six Nations, are vice captains for the autumn series.

Tuipulotu’s mother, Angelina, will be at Murrayfield on Saturday.

But tighthead prop Zander Fagerson might not be after he didn’t train on Friday for “personal reasons,” Scotland said.

If Fagerson doesn’t play, D’Arcy Rae will be promoted from the reserves for his first cap since his debut in 2019.

The uncapped Fin Richardson will come into the reserves. He has yet to play for the Glasgow senior side. He was a travelling development player with Scotland during the summer tour of the Americas.

Scotland has been limited to choosing players from only Glasgow and Edinburgh because the test is outside the international window. That has prevented Scotland from picking England-based tightheads Elliot Millar Mills and Will Hurd.