Late on a Thursday night in Melbourne, the Tuipulotu family gathers, hoping for a homecoming. Kept awake by the twin stimulants of caffeine and nerves, Sione’s mother, father and grandmother wait and watch as the British and Irish Lions squad is revealed thousands of miles away. The fates have aligned wonderfully, a Lions trip back to Australia falling in a year in which their kin had captained the Scottish clan; now all that is left is to see if the centre of their attention has done enough.
The wait is worth it. Having overcome a pectoral injury in the nick of time, Sione Tuipulotu is the 36th name uttered by Ieuan Evans, a return ticket down under signed and stamped. “I just want to grab this opportunity because I’ll never get it again, to go back to Australia, and play for the Lions,” Tuipulotu beams, the immense pride in his voice clear. “For it to perfectly line up with an Australian tour when I get to captain Scotland in the year that I go on this Lions tour, and when I’m playing my best rugby, I’m just so grateful.”
Many will remember the emotional reunion arranged between Tuipulotu and his “Greenock granny” from last November, when the Scottish Rugby Union (SRU) arranged for a first trip home for Jaqueline Thomson in 12 years to watch her grandson play against Australia at Murrayfield. A more heartwarming clip one will struggle to find, and Tuipulotu delivered on the pitch with a thunderous performance against past colleagues and compatriots as Scotland beat the Wallabies.
It was the sort of performance that marked him out as a certainty for Andy Farrell’s selection if fit – but not all would have the 28-year-old in their squad. Last week, the great Willie John McBride, who won 17 Lions Test caps across five tours, admitted to South African title Rapport that the number of foreign-born players picked in Farrell’s 38 “bothered” him. “In my day, the team consisted only of native players,” McBride added.
Similar comments could be found elsewhere. Along with Tuipulotu, Mack Hansen called Australia home until a rugby-driven move to the British Isles; Jamison Gibson-Park, Bundee Aki and James Lowe were all born in New Zealand. Duhan van der Merwe returned to South Africa with the Lions four years ago, and is joined this time round by fellow Edinburgh adoptee Pierre Schoeman. It is not the first time the issue has reared its head: Ben Te’o and CJ Stander are among those selected in the past, having spent the formative parts of their rugby lives away from Britain and Ireland.
Tuipulotu, of course, has heard this debate before. The centre was called up by Scotland before he had even made his move to Glasgow – and admits that he felt he had to prove his allegiance. “Genuinely, in those early days, just to be completely transparent, you have that feeling of, ‘am I part of this?’
“[But] I’ve been nothing but embraced by the Scottish public since I’ve been playing for Scotland. There are always going to be a couple of people criticising, like there are for some of the Irish boys, but I take that in my stride because I don’t blame those people, either. I didn’t grow up dreaming of playing for Scotland or the Lions. That’s the truth. But this is where my path has led me. I’m all in for this Lions team, for Scotland, for Glasgow, for everything – and I genuinely believe this is where I’m supposed to be anyway. I’ve been led here for a reason.”
Skyscanner and Scottish Rugby presents: The Ultimate Reunion
— Scottish Rugby (@Scotlandteam) November 20, 2024
Sione and Mosese qualify for Scotland through their grandmother in Australia, but she's never seen them play in a Scotland jersey before. That is, until our friends at @Skyscanner came up with an idea to bring the… pic.twitter.com/rrpZFg6M9o
He hopes that his grandmother’s visit helped prove that commitment. “When my gran came over before the Australia game, it allowed the public to put a face to the story, listen to how much it meant to her. I think that gave eyes to the public that my story is authentic. Of course, you get those feelings that you want to prove yourself, and the best way to do that is on the field and show your commitment that way.”
Some draw a distinction between those with a familial connection, like Tuipulotu, and others qualifying on residency – particularly individuals who became eligible for their new nations after only three years, a timespan now lengthened to five by World Rugby.
But national identity is a many-fettered thing, and speaking in absolutes is unwise. One’s country of birth can differ from where one feels most at home; a family can be split to far-flung corners of the globe but still carry the spirit of the culture in which it was first forged.
Lions captain Maro Itoje was born and raised in London, yet will celebrate two weddings this summer, a Nigerian ceremony embracing the heritage of both Itoje and his fiancee, Mimi – though it has been delayed until after the tour. Joe McCarthy was born in New York, where one would find a fair few who state their Irish identity proudly in a thick American accent.
Though a 2013 Barbarians side that included James Hook, Elliot Daly and Jared Payne slightly skews the statistics, Lowe is set to become one of the very few to have featured for and against the Lions. The Ireland wing had just agreed a move to Leinster when he started at full-back for a star-studded Maori All Blacks team that also featured Rieko Ioane, Damian McKenzie and Nehe Milner-Skudder. They were nonetheless blown away in Rotorua in 2017 as the Lions showed their bite in an encounter that showed Lowe the intensity required at Test level and what the famous red shirt meant to the tourists.
He hopes to carry that same meaning with him on his first tour. “The boys will still slag me for my accent, but we are so well connected in so many ways,” he explains of life as an Irishman. “Everyone’s got a different story; my story just didn’t start in Ireland. But I can see it ending in Ireland. My two kids were born in Ireland.
“Obviously, when you don’t have the blood running through your veins, there is a little bit of [having to prove yourself]. When I was first selected for Ireland, all the people came out of the woodwork saying, ‘how is this person representing Ireland?’ But the rules are there. We’ve all done our time. I am fully embedded in the culture of Ireland. Sione’s captained Scotland. My old boy back in Nelson, where I grew up, walks around in Leinster, Ireland and now Lions kit. He’s just a proud dad.”
Plenty of Lowe’s family will make the trip across the Tasman, while Tuipulotu will be returning rather closer to home. The second Lions Test in Melbourne is preceded by a midweek encounter with a First Nations & Pasifika XV that celebrates the impact of the Aboriginal Australian population and Pacific Island diaspora on rugby in Australia; showing again how the make-up of a nation can change over time.
In the crowd, there will be no split loyalties for Tuipulotu’s family – even if they may get creative sartorially. “My dad loves red because he’s Tongan,” the newly named Lion chuckles. “He’ll cover himself in red. It’ll be pretty cool to look up in the stands to see my brother, my mum and my dad wearing Lions jerseys. It’s crazy how a rugby journey works out. I can’t wait for that.”
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