Scots dad's groin injury at football game led to bone cancer diagnosis
A Scots dad says football saved his life after a groin injury during a match led to his bone cancer diagnosis. Jason Deans, 38, a semi-professional footballer, suffered the injury during a game and decided to go to the GP after weeks of "pain and discomfort". An MRI scan later revealed a 5cm tumour in his pelvis area and, after a biopsy, he was told he had chondrosarcoma - a type of bone cancer. He underwent surgery six weeks later, which saw 10 cm of his pelvis removed, and despite the surgery's success, the former sportsman had to "relearn how to walk and run". But now thanks to the support of his wife, Nicola, 38, and two children, Caris, 11, and Caelan, six, on Sunday, April 27, 2025, Jason completed the London Marathon, running the 26-mile route in 3 hours 46 minutes. He has since raised £13,000 for the Bone Cancer Research Trust. Jason, a full-time recruitment manager from Falkirk, said: "It was my hardest battle. "When I received my diagnosis, I didn't think I'd get back to my usual fit self. It was an incredible shock, but I knew I had to keep fighting for my family. "I had a strong support system around me who helped me to walk and run again. Completing the London Marathon with my fastest time ever was just incredible. "I feel like nothing is impossible now." Jason was diagnosed with chondrosarcoma in February 2021 after an MRI revealed a 5cm tumour in his pelvis. He had suffered a "groin injury" during a football game in September 2020, which prompted a visit to the doctors. "It felt like a hand grenade went off in my life," he said. I just couldn't believe it. All I kept thinking was how I was going to tell my family that I have cancer." Chondrosarcoma is the most common type of bone cancer and can affect any part of the body. Although the general prognosis is good, those with higher grades face a 60 per cent survival rate after five years. Jason had a grade I tumour and in March 2021, the mass was successfully removed along with 10 cm of his pelvis. He remained in hospital for 11 days afterwards, and on April 19, 2021, was told he was cancer-free. "It was a very difficult experience," Jason said. "I was rarely allowed visitors in the hospital, and all I wanted was to see my family. "But to hear I was cancer-free was extremely liberating. From then on, I started setting myself small goals that were important to me. "And I never wanted to take life for granted again." Jason described the recovery process as a "complete struggle", and for two months, the former sportsman relied on walking aids to get around as he "couldn't run or walk". "I just didn't feel like myself," he added. "But I tried not to push myself and I kept fighting." It wasn't until May 2021 that Jason completed his first solo walk, and August when he took on his first kilometre run. Jason began setting goals for longer distances, 5km in February 2022, and a half marathon in October 2024. "There were a few mental blocks along the way and a few times when I was close to giving up," he said. One particular challenge was in January 2024, when the right side of his hip got stuck in his pelvis. "I was out for six months, and it was a dark time," he added. "I often thought if I was ever going to run again." Despite this, Jason never let it get him down and began training for the marathon 22 weeks in advance. And last Sunday, the cancer survivor achieved his dream by completing the 26-mile race in 3 hours and 46 minutes. He shaved eight minutes off his personal best after competing in the London Marathon in 2017. Jason dedicated the run to Andy's bones fund - a branch of the Bone Cancer Research Trust - and raised £13,000. "It was the most incredible feeling," he said. "I was just thinking about my friends and family to help me push through. "My body was aching and I was shedding tears. "But I hope my efforts get us a step closer to finding a cure for chondrosarcoma."
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The National
19 minutes ago
- The National
'Snobbery' over Scottish talent has left national game at crisis point
'Part of my day job is system development,' said Ferguson, the former East Stirlingshire, Alloa Athletic, Hamilton Academical, Partick Thistle and Stenhousemuir defensive midfielder who is now assistant to Gary Naysmith at the third tier Ochilview Park part-timers. 'We're always looking ahead. We're involved in Olympic sports and we look four years, eight years, even 12 years down the line. We look at pathways and what we've got coming through.' Does Ferguson think that this country's leading football clubs have the same forward-thinking attitude? Does he believe their chairmen, managers, owners, chief executives and sporting directors are safeguarding the future of our national game? Is he hopeful that Scotland will flourish as a result of the farsighted groundwork they are laying now? The posts about the number of homegrown and under-21 players who were involved in the Premiership last season which he fired up on the X (formerly Twitter) social media platform last week suggested that he very much does not. Read more: The statistics which he personally collated were highly concerning. But here are two of the most startling. He showed that the overall percentage of Scots to start top flight games during the 2024/25 campaign was just 31.46 per cent. That was down from 45 per cent three years ago. In addition, he highlighted that, on average, just four out of the 132 players who kicked games off in the elite division every weekend were under the age of 21 and originally hailed from these shores. He can foresee major issues arising in the future as a consequence. 'I started doing this back in around 2018 or 2019,' said Ferguson. 'I went back to the 1980s and 1990s and looked at the trend of more non-Scots coming into the Scottish game. I tracked the summer and winter signings and looked at the team sheets every week. It worried me back then, but it's getting worse every year. 'When I started doing this, the number of Scots who were starting every week on average was at about 48 to 49 per cent. Now it is down in the low 30s. I think it is a major problem already. And it is only going to get worse and worse. There needs to be an intervention before it becomes an even bigger problem. 'It's not just the Premiership where it's a problem now, it's feeding down into the lower divisions as well. When you look at a line-up of a Championship team, there are often a lot of non-Scots in there. We are reaching a crisis point. We can be producing far more players than we are.' (Image: SNS Group) So what, if anything, does Ferguson feel can be done to turn things around? The man who has just helped Stenhousemuir to secure a play-off place in their first season up in League One admits that he is puzzled by the Premiership clubs' reliance on overseas players. He has long been convinced they would be better off shopping local. 'I have always felt, going right back to my own playing days, that Scottish players and probably Scottish staff don't get the recognition that they were due when they were playing at a lower level,' he said. 'They were never picked up. 'There have been so many examples of that over the years. But Lawrence Shankland is the one really jumped out to me. I can remember watching him when I was the manager at Stenhousemuir and we played Ayr United. He was the difference in the game. 'I went and spoke to Hearts about him. I got told, 'Yeah, we've had him watched, but we don't think he's quick enough, we don't think he's strong enough'. They had so many reasons for not signing him. 'But they went straight out and signed David Vanecek from a club in the second tier in the Czech Republic. He lasted five or six months and then he was gone. I looked at that and thought, 'Why not look at the best players in the leagues below here?'. Hearts eventually signed Lawrence, but they could have had him years earlier if they had just taken a chance.' Read more: Ferguson is optimistic that Scottish clubs will look at the success which Falkirk have enjoyed under John McGlynn in the past couple of years – they have won League One and the Championship in successive seasons – and realise that promoting promising talent from the lower leagues can yield impressive results. 'Falkirk have been a breath of fresh air for me,' he said. 'They've taken players up from the Lowland League, they've even looked at the East of Scotland League. Those players have made big jumps up. 'Not all of them will be able to step up. But a lot of them have and are progressing. They have had an unbelievable couple of seasons. For me, John should be getting far more recognition for what he has done.' Ferguson continued, 'I just think there's snobbery across the Scottish game. There are a lot of good players in Scotland, but the pathway is not there for them. The opportunities for them to play at the top are so limited it's incredible. 'There has been talk about a Scottish goalkeeping crisis recently. For me, there is a bit of snobbery there too. Nicky Hogarth at Falkirk is a far better goalkeeper than the lad Cieran Slicker at Ipswich Town. Now, that might not be the case in the future. But at this moment in time Hogarth has won back-to-back league titles and is a better player. (Image: Craig Williamson - SNS Group) 'Hogarth has been at Rangers and Nottingham Forest as a young player, Slicker has been at Manchester City and Ipswich Town. So they both have a good grounding. But Slicker, a player who has never played a league game, gets selected for the national squad. For me, that kind of belittles playing for your country. Why not give Hogarth a chance? 'I think there are players there now who could easily make the step up to the Premiership. Not every player is going to make the grade, that's just never going to happen. But there are a lot of players who will get recruited from other countries who will come and go in the blink of an eye. Fans will forget about them in a couple of weeks. 'But I don't think the fanbase helps things ether if I am being honest. People don't get as excited about signing a player or a manager from the Championship as they do about bringing in a foreign player or manager. The media is exactly the same.' Ferguson has also witnessed first hand a reluctance to field the best kids who are coming through the youth ranks at Premiership clubs despite the obvious ability they possess and the success which those who have, often because his manager has had no other choice, been promoted have enjoyed. 'There are also young players within academies who are good enough,' he said. 'I have worked at Rangers and seen players who could step up and play first team football far sooner. There are kids out there who aren't getting anywhere close first team football at the age of 19, 20, 21. I don't understand that. 'If Callum McGregor was a youth coming through at Celtic now I don't think he would be given an opportunity. When he broke through Rangers were in the lower reaches of Scottish football and they could maybe afford to take a risk with him. Would they play him now? 'Scott Brown, who is Celtic's second most successful captain, only got his chance at Hibs when his manager Bobby Williamson was told that he needed to play youngsters. All of a sudden, they brought through a handful and they all went on to have really, really good careers. Would they have flourished if there wasn't a crisis? 'There are lots of those kind of examples. Adam Forrester got thrown in at Hearts when they had a right-back crisis and he has now played 30 odd games. He's not a youngster either, he is 20. James Wilson only got his chance because Lawrence Shankland was injured. They had to throw him in. They had no option. 'Do I think he would be in that team if Hearts had four strikers? No, I don't. Do I think he would be in the Scotland squad? No, I don't. I am delighted he is now in the national set-up. But there are not enough of these kind of players.' Read more: Ferguson continued, 'Another issue is that there are so many players on the bench now. What used to happen when three substitutes were allowed was there would be 14 players stripped, two in the stand and the rest would be playing somewhere else, in a reserve match or whatever. 'Now you've got 19 to 20 players stripped and another three sitting in the stands. Those players are nowhere near playing in a football match because they've got so many players in front of them. Squads are so swollen now. Even if you are a really good young player you need to get in front of four or five senior players to get in. 'It's difficult for any manager to say. 'I really like this 17-year-old, he's going straight in the team'. He needs to put that kid above three, four, five different senior players. Why would you want to have such a big squad and have a youth academy as well? That doesn't allow kids to progress. There are so many things that happen at the top level that don't make sense to me.' The Cooperation System which the SFA rolled out last week – which will see up to three Scotland qualified players at Premiership and Championship clubs move to lower league outfits freely on loan going forward – makes perfect sense to him. 'I love it,' said Ferguson. 'I love the concept of it. I also love that there is a plan there. I've always felt that the loan system, and I understand why this is, is very reactive. What generally happens is a club puts together a squad and then they need to get players in to cover for injuries. 'The Cooperation System is a bit more of a planned approach. It sounds as if loan players will be identified throughout the course of the close season, going into pre-season, when a manager or a recruitment team are building their squad. (Image: SNS Group Alan Harvey) 'I think it's a very, very good piece of work. I don't think managers will build their team around the loan player, it won't be as extreme as that. But I think a player will fit in straight away, They won't be trying to force their way into the team. It is a refreshing concept.' He continued, 'Will a young player who is number 21, 22 or 23 in a first team squad be considered for it? Or will they be kept at their parent club to make up numbers? That would be my concern. Will the guy who is 22 or 23 be allowed to go out and play? If he isn't, he could spend another season not playing. 'Is it best for the club in the long-term to get a player out, to get them experience of playing football, to get their name known, to hopefully have an impact? Massively. It should have a positive impact on the player and of course on the club. 'But a manager might want to hold onto him, just in case. He might have injuries and need to play a kid. That is how Forrester came through and established himself as a Premiership player. But, at the same time, six months could pass and a kid won't play. We will see how it works in practice. 'But we are very much on board with it at Stenhousemuir. We feel as though it's something that could be of value to us. Martin Christie, our head of recruitment, is speaking to clubs at the moment. There are ongoing conversations.' Ferguson is eager to see more Scottish players in the lower leagues getting the chance to show what they can do in the Premiership and more academy kids getting promoted into first teams than is currently the case. He fears the national team will ultimately suffer unless there is a long overdue change in attitudes and the trend he has identified is allowed to continue. 'Generally speaking, the first team manager at a club looks after the first team and that is it,' he said. 'That is the way it should be. But why is he not involved in looking at what the pathway into the first team looks like? 'There is an obvious issue. A coach knows he may not be in a job in four weeks' time if he doesn't get results. So why look four years down the line? The dynamics around football are different to any other sport. That is good and bad at the same time. 'The culture of football, the tribal nature of the sport, the supporters' demand for success in the here and now makes people focus on that. Understandably so. But I do think it is unusual compared to other sports, that failure to develop a strategy which can enable a club to be successful long-term. Don't get me wrong, many clubs will try to do it, but there is a massive disconnect between what they want to achieve and what they actually do.' Ferguson continued, 'We're already seeing a lack of depth when we've got injuries. We have quality players, John McGinn, Scott McTominay, Craig Gordon, Andy Robertson, Kieran Tierney. But quite a few of these players are getting towards the end of their careers, they're in their late 20s or early 30s. 'Could getting five per cent of the Scottish players who are in the Premiership to follow Lewis Ferguson, Billy Gilmour and Scott McTominay and move on to a bigger league in Europe be a target? If it can be then surely five per cent of 100 is better than five per cent of 30. 'My real worry is the talent pool is getting diluted. That is definitely the trend. It is on a decline, a continuous decline. Unless something changes, Scottish players will be making up just 20 per cent of the teams in a few years.'
The Herald Scotland
26 minutes ago
- The Herald Scotland
'Snobbery' over Scottish talent has left national game at crisis point
'We're always looking ahead. We're involved in Olympic sports and we look four years, eight years, even 12 years down the line. We look at pathways and what we've got coming through.' Does Ferguson think that this country's leading football clubs have the same forward-thinking attitude? Does he believe their chairmen, managers, owners, chief executives and sporting directors are safeguarding the future of our national game? Is he hopeful that Scotland will flourish as a result of the farsighted groundwork they are laying now? The posts about the number of homegrown and under-21 players who were involved in the Premiership last season which he fired up on the X (formerly Twitter) social media platform last week suggested that he very much does not. Read more: The statistics which he personally collated were highly concerning. But here are two of the most startling. He showed that the overall percentage of Scots to start top flight games during the 2024/25 campaign was just 31.46 per cent. That was down from 45 per cent three years ago. In addition, he highlighted that, on average, just four out of the 132 players who kicked games off in the elite division every weekend were under the age of 21 and originally hailed from these shores. He can foresee major issues arising in the future as a consequence. 'I started doing this back in around 2018 or 2019,' said Ferguson. 'I went back to the 1980s and 1990s and looked at the trend of more non-Scots coming into the Scottish game. I tracked the summer and winter signings and looked at the team sheets every week. It worried me back then, but it's getting worse every year. 'When I started doing this, the number of Scots who were starting every week on average was at about 48 to 49 per cent. Now it is down in the low 30s. I think it is a major problem already. And it is only going to get worse and worse. There needs to be an intervention before it becomes an even bigger problem. 'It's not just the Premiership where it's a problem now, it's feeding down into the lower divisions as well. When you look at a line-up of a Championship team, there are often a lot of non-Scots in there. We are reaching a crisis point. We can be producing far more players than we are.' (Image: SNS Group) So what, if anything, does Ferguson feel can be done to turn things around? The man who has just helped Stenhousemuir to secure a play-off place in their first season up in League One admits that he is puzzled by the Premiership clubs' reliance on overseas players. He has long been convinced they would be better off shopping local. 'I have always felt, going right back to my own playing days, that Scottish players and probably Scottish staff don't get the recognition that they were due when they were playing at a lower level,' he said. 'They were never picked up. 'There have been so many examples of that over the years. But Lawrence Shankland is the one really jumped out to me. I can remember watching him when I was the manager at Stenhousemuir and we played Ayr United. He was the difference in the game. 'I went and spoke to Hearts about him. I got told, 'Yeah, we've had him watched, but we don't think he's quick enough, we don't think he's strong enough'. They had so many reasons for not signing him. 'But they went straight out and signed David Vanecek from a club in the second tier in the Czech Republic. He lasted five or six months and then he was gone. I looked at that and thought, 'Why not look at the best players in the leagues below here?'. Hearts eventually signed Lawrence, but they could have had him years earlier if they had just taken a chance.' Read more: Ferguson is optimistic that Scottish clubs will look at the success which Falkirk have enjoyed under John McGlynn in the past couple of years – they have won League One and the Championship in successive seasons – and realise that promoting promising talent from the lower leagues can yield impressive results. 'Falkirk have been a breath of fresh air for me,' he said. 'They've taken players up from the Lowland League, they've even looked at the East of Scotland League. Those players have made big jumps up. 'Not all of them will be able to step up. But a lot of them have and are progressing. They have had an unbelievable couple of seasons. For me, John should be getting far more recognition for what he has done.' Ferguson continued, 'I just think there's snobbery across the Scottish game. There are a lot of good players in Scotland, but the pathway is not there for them. The opportunities for them to play at the top are so limited it's incredible. 'There has been talk about a Scottish goalkeeping crisis recently. For me, there is a bit of snobbery there too. Nicky Hogarth at Falkirk is a far better goalkeeper than the lad Cieran Slicker at Ipswich Town. Now, that might not be the case in the future. But at this moment in time Hogarth has won back-to-back league titles and is a better player. (Image: Craig Williamson - SNS Group) 'Hogarth has been at Rangers and Nottingham Forest as a young player, Slicker has been at Manchester City and Ipswich Town. So they both have a good grounding. But Slicker, a player who has never played a league game, gets selected for the national squad. For me, that kind of belittles playing for your country. Why not give Hogarth a chance? 'I think there are players there now who could easily make the step up to the Premiership. Not every player is going to make the grade, that's just never going to happen. But there are a lot of players who will get recruited from other countries who will come and go in the blink of an eye. Fans will forget about them in a couple of weeks. 'But I don't think the fanbase helps things ether if I am being honest. People don't get as excited about signing a player or a manager from the Championship as they do about bringing in a foreign player or manager. The media is exactly the same.' Ferguson has also witnessed first hand a reluctance to field the best kids who are coming through the youth ranks at Premiership clubs despite the obvious ability they possess and the success which those who have, often because his manager has had no other choice, been promoted have enjoyed. 'There are also young players within academies who are good enough,' he said. 'I have worked at Rangers and seen players who could step up and play first team football far sooner. There are kids out there who aren't getting anywhere close first team football at the age of 19, 20, 21. I don't understand that. 'If Callum McGregor was a youth coming through at Celtic now I don't think he would be given an opportunity. When he broke through Rangers were in the lower reaches of Scottish football and they could maybe afford to take a risk with him. Would they play him now? 'Scott Brown, who is Celtic's second most successful captain, only got his chance at Hibs when his manager Bobby Williamson was told that he needed to play youngsters. All of a sudden, they brought through a handful and they all went on to have really, really good careers. Would they have flourished if there wasn't a crisis? 'There are lots of those kind of examples. Adam Forrester got thrown in at Hearts when they had a right-back crisis and he has now played 30 odd games. He's not a youngster either, he is 20. James Wilson only got his chance because Lawrence Shankland was injured. They had to throw him in. They had no option. 'Do I think he would be in that team if Hearts had four strikers? No, I don't. Do I think he would be in the Scotland squad? No, I don't. I am delighted he is now in the national set-up. But there are not enough of these kind of players.' Read more: Ferguson continued, 'Another issue is that there are so many players on the bench now. What used to happen when three substitutes were allowed was there would be 14 players stripped, two in the stand and the rest would be playing somewhere else, in a reserve match or whatever. 'Now you've got 19 to 20 players stripped and another three sitting in the stands. Those players are nowhere near playing in a football match because they've got so many players in front of them. Squads are so swollen now. Even if you are a really good young player you need to get in front of four or five senior players to get in. 'It's difficult for any manager to say. 'I really like this 17-year-old, he's going straight in the team'. He needs to put that kid above three, four, five different senior players. Why would you want to have such a big squad and have a youth academy as well? That doesn't allow kids to progress. There are so many things that happen at the top level that don't make sense to me.' The Cooperation System which the SFA rolled out last week – which will see up to three Scotland qualified players at Premiership and Championship clubs move to lower league outfits freely on loan going forward – makes perfect sense to him. 'I love it,' said Ferguson. 'I love the concept of it. I also love that there is a plan there. I've always felt that the loan system, and I understand why this is, is very reactive. What generally happens is a club puts together a squad and then they need to get players in to cover for injuries. 'The Cooperation System is a bit more of a planned approach. It sounds as if loan players will be identified throughout the course of the close season, going into pre-season, when a manager or a recruitment team are building their squad. (Image: SNS Group Alan Harvey) 'I think it's a very, very good piece of work. I don't think managers will build their team around the loan player, it won't be as extreme as that. But I think a player will fit in straight away, They won't be trying to force their way into the team. It is a refreshing concept.' He continued, 'Will a young player who is number 21, 22 or 23 in a first team squad be considered for it? Or will they be kept at their parent club to make up numbers? That would be my concern. Will the guy who is 22 or 23 be allowed to go out and play? If he isn't, he could spend another season not playing. 'Is it best for the club in the long-term to get a player out, to get them experience of playing football, to get their name known, to hopefully have an impact? Massively. It should have a positive impact on the player and of course on the club. 'But a manager might want to hold onto him, just in case. He might have injuries and need to play a kid. That is how Forrester came through and established himself as a Premiership player. But, at the same time, six months could pass and a kid won't play. We will see how it works in practice. 'But we are very much on board with it at Stenhousemuir. We feel as though it's something that could be of value to us. Martin Christie, our head of recruitment, is speaking to clubs at the moment. There are ongoing conversations.' Ferguson is eager to see more Scottish players in the lower leagues getting the chance to show what they can do in the Premiership and more academy kids getting promoted into first teams than is currently the case. He fears the national team will ultimately suffer unless there is a long overdue change in attitudes and the trend he has identified is allowed to continue. 'Generally speaking, the first team manager at a club looks after the first team and that is it,' he said. 'That is the way it should be. But why is he not involved in looking at what the pathway into the first team looks like? 'There is an obvious issue. A coach knows he may not be in a job in four weeks' time if he doesn't get results. So why look four years down the line? The dynamics around football are different to any other sport. That is good and bad at the same time. 'The culture of football, the tribal nature of the sport, the supporters' demand for success in the here and now makes people focus on that. Understandably so. But I do think it is unusual compared to other sports, that failure to develop a strategy which can enable a club to be successful long-term. Don't get me wrong, many clubs will try to do it, but there is a massive disconnect between what they want to achieve and what they actually do.' Ferguson continued, 'We're already seeing a lack of depth when we've got injuries. We have quality players, John McGinn, Scott McTominay, Craig Gordon, Andy Robertson, Kieran Tierney. But quite a few of these players are getting towards the end of their careers, they're in their late 20s or early 30s. 'Could getting five per cent of the Scottish players who are in the Premiership to follow Lewis Ferguson, Billy Gilmour and Scott McTominay and move on to a bigger league in Europe be a target? If it can be then surely five per cent of 100 is better than five per cent of 30. 'My real worry is the talent pool is getting diluted. That is definitely the trend. It is on a decline, a continuous decline. Unless something changes, Scottish players will be making up just 20 per cent of the teams in a few years.'
STV News
17 hours ago
- STV News
'Stars aligned' to keep Sione Tuipulotu's Lions dream alive
Through the last decade in professional rugby, nothing Sione Tuipulotu has achieved has been gifted to him. From struggling to make an impact at his hometown Melbourne Rebels in Australia, to an attempt to jump-start his career in Japan before taking a chance on a move to Scotland, the 28-year-old has fought for every inch just as he does on the field. So when he suffered a 'freak' pectoral muscle injury in January he was not only deprived of captaining the Scots in the Six Nations – the clock was also ticking on his chances to be named in the British and Irish Lions squad. Fuelled by a desire to wear the famous strawberry red jersey on a tour of the nation of his birth, the dynamic centre got to work on rehabilitation – and it paid off as later this month Tuipulotu will be flying down under with Andy Farrell's squad. The Glasgow Warriors star told STV Sport: 'The stars did align, didn't they? 'The opportunity of going back to Australia is something that I wanted to do and I am passionate about going back there and competing against those boys. 'It's so exciting, probably the most exciting time of my career. 'The way the last five months has been for me has been an emotional rollercoaster but for it to end with the Lions series, that's the way I wanted it. 'It is a relief but also just so happy. My partner and my son have already headed home [to Australia] and that's the cherry on top for me – I get to go home and play in front of them and play in front of my mum and dad.' Tuipulotu had been touted as a potential Lion for months before his injury as he turned heads in the Scotland midfield and helped Glasgow to an unlikely triumph in the URC grand final. The Melbourne native – a Scot by virtue of his Greenock-born grandmother – was well aware of the noise around his chances for selection but insisted that it made it no easier during the gruelling months recovering from surgery this winter. Tuipulotu grinned: 'I would say it made it 100 times harder! You don't know if you are going to get selected and you aren't able to influence the situation on the pitch. 'You have to just hope that everything you've done before is enough and you'll never know that until your name gets called out. 'It was hard for me to let go of the goal of making the Lions because I had put so much pressure on myself to make the team, I couldn't stop thinking about it to be honest. 'Before I got hurt it was the best thing ever for my rugby – the pressure to perform for a Lions jumper. It made every game important to me. 'For Glasgow, for Scotland, every game was huge because I wanted to be a Lion. 'I enjoyed that pressure of this being a year where every part of my rugby was going to be scrutinised. 'It made me work harder, it made me more disciplined off the pitch and so when I got hurt it was hard.' Tuipulotu remembers vividly the last Lions tour of Australia, in which the tourists won the series 2-1 courtesy of a narrow decisive victory in the final test match Sydney. The Wallabies had levelled the series with a win in Melbourne as Sione and his younger brothers – Mosese and Ottavio – became wrapped up in the drama. 'My brothers were actually flag bearers in 2013 the last time the Lions were in Australia,' Tuipulotu revealed. 'So to think I'm going back there now to play in one of those games is kind of crazy. 'I remember all the moments from that series – the Israel Falau versus George North match-up, the Jamie Roberts try in the third test. 'But at that time my heroes were the guys playing in yellow – guys like Will Genia were who I looked up to – and it is just funny how my journey has led me here and how passionate I am now about playing for the Lions and writing my own story. 'We still talk about George North, Jamie Roberts, Jonathan Davies on that tour and now I get the opportunity to write my own name into history.' Tuipulotu is now in camp with the Lions, who met up in Dublin this week before flying to Portugal for a training camp. And while familiar faces like clubmates Huw Jones and Scott Cummings will ease the transition, the Scotland captain is also excited to form bonds with the Irish, England Welsh and players in the squad who he is more used to facing off against on the rugby field. Tuipulotu said: 'The thing I realise is that they are just like us but playing on the other side of the fence. 'You play these hostile matches against these boys – Jamieson Gibson Park, James Lowe, Fin Smith – but you never really get the chance to share the moment off the field with them properly. 'They are competitors and they are really good blokes! You have your pre-conceived idea of these people are like but people are so different away from the game.' The Lions will first take to the field in Dublin on June 21 to take on Argentina then fly to Australia for the nine game tour. There are five tour game opportunities to impress head coach Andy Farrell before the first test against the Wallabies in Brisbane on July 19 and competition for a place in the test team will be intense. For Tuipulotu that is just the next mountain to scale on his remarkable career path. He said: 'I hope I can go over there, learn first and foremost, but I want to go and compete. 'I have been a professional rugby player now for ten years and I feel it has all led me to here, where I can compete for a test jersey.' 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