Sione Tuipulotu interview: Private school saved me from life of crime
He did not grow up dreaming of playing international rugby, whether for his native Australia or Scotland, for whom he qualifies via his grandmother, Anne Thompson, who in 1963 moved with her parents and siblings from Greenock, outside Glasgow, to within an hour of Melbourne.
No, at the age of 13 Tuipulotu feared, in his own words, that he was 'going down the wrong path'.
'Gang violence was always around but I was more scared of my dad than any gang in our neighbourhood,' says Tuipulotu. 'There is not much opportunity for kids where I was from. Boredom gets the best of a lot of kids in my area. You are bored and looking for something to do and quite often that leads to trouble. I stopped going to school a lot and I was getting into trouble when I did go to school.'
I ask what sort of things he got up to. 'Oh, to be honest, crime,' he says matter-of-factly. 'Not that I am going to sit here and admit to any crime that I have done,' he adds. 'But you get into little things, as young kids do, in terms of stealing, fighting and it was because all the kids in my environment were doing it.
'You get to that age, 13, 14 and 15 years old, when you get to the crossroads, you know? My parents did a really good job with me ever since I was a kid. I was probably more scared of my dad than I anything else that was going on outside. So that kept me relatively on the straight and narrow, but I was getting into trouble.'
'I had a chip on my shoulder at school'
What happened next, according to Tuipulotu, is a story of redemption. Not for the first time – and hopefully not the last – rugby's intervention led to good life decisions. He played soccer at first, but his dad Fohe was a rugby man and encouraged his son to join Southern Districts rugby club. The days when he 'ran down the right wing' in football quickly came to an end.
Despite the distractions as a pupil at the Elisabeth Murdoch College, he excelled at several sports, but his rugby prowess attracted the attention of a private school, St Kevin's College, which offered him a full scholarship.
Yet this is only the first stage of his journey from the backstreets of Frankston to a place in the British and Irish Lions side to face Australia in the first Test on Saturday. He was a kid looking for a purpose, and more importantly, for someone to put their arm around him. Do that, and he would give you everything. That it was a Scottish arm changed his life.
The early days at his new school, however, initially left him cold. 'At first, I wanted to make my parents proud because it was an opportunity they could never afford themselves. But for the first couple of years, I had a chip on my shoulder. I thought none of the kids were like me. I didn't have anything similar with them; their parents were wealthy. When I came back home on the train, I would take my blazer off because I was embarrassed. I didn't want to come back to Frankston and all the boys see me in this fancy blazer.
'At one stage they were at a crossroads to get rid of me, because I was still getting in trouble. But one teacher called Robert Windle, who went to school in Edinburgh, put his arm around me and drove me through school. He had been to Merchiston, and it was funny that I would later end up playing with a number of boys who went there.
'He was the first XV coach but was also more mentoring, not on my rugby side, because he knew that came easy to me, but for the school stuff. I played for the first XV as soon as I joined the school at 14, I was physically developed for my age although at that stage I was more of a finesse player. It was only when I got older that I fell in love with the collision aspect of the game.
'Bob's interest made me really competitive. Once someone showed they cared about me, I didn't want to let them down and that's when everything changed for me.
'School became so important because I would spend three hours every day on the train to get there and back, so by the time I got back after rugby training it was late. I started taking rugby really seriously then, too, and zoned in on what I wanted to do.
'Going into my last year in school, I would keep my blazer on when I got off the train. I had figured out in my brain that the school had saved me from a lot of things and rugby had kept me busy.'
'We were overlooked by Australian rugby'
If those formative years proved critical, when he left knowing that he wanted to become a professional rugby player, the frustrations and disillusionment of the 13-year-old Tuipulotu soon returned as he felt players in Melbourne were not given a fair chance by the Australian system, even when the Rebels were established as a Super Rugby franchise.
'I can give you a list of the Melbourne boys who were let go by the Rebels, and it would surprise you,' he says. 'For example, I played with Emmanuel Meafou, who is at Toulouse now. He was told he was never going to be fit enough. Hunter Paisami was told he was too small and would never play Super Rugby.
'It was the same for Monty Ioane. These were all Melbourne kids who didn't get the opportunity to play for Melbourne. That's all we wanted to do at the time, represent our state. There's a tight-knit community down there in Victorian rugby, and we felt like we were always overlooked in the grand scheme of Australian rugby because we grew up in what was perceived as a non-rugby state. They used us for marketing purposes, because we were Melbourne kids, but we never ended up getting much of an opportunity.
'When I left Melbourne, I left angry, and I saw so many other kids miss out on opportunities. Later on in your career, you think that it was meant to happen, but I definitely still have that chip on my shoulder of being turned away. I will carry it for the rest of my career.
'It is something I'm really passionate about, even on this tour because at the end of the day, I still represent Melbourne kids. That's where I'm from. I know a lot of those kids are supporting the Wallabies as they should, but even if a couple of them support the Lions because I'm playing for them, then I will feel that I have won.'
After seeing the Rebels squad recruit many Western Force players when it was originally cut from Super Rugby in 2017, he moved on to Japan before Scotland came calling, with an offer to join Glasgow Warriors.
It felt like another arm around his shoulder, and once again he was prepared to give all that he had.
Which brings us to his sense of identity. Some have criticised the number of players in the Lions squad who were not born or raised in Britain or Ireland. Tuipulotu does not shy away from the issue.
'I really understand the people that are angry,' he adds. 'I'm not angry that anyone feels like that, to be honest. If anything, I understand it. If I open my mouth and they don't hear a Scottish accent, I understand how that might upset people, but my accent is my accent.
'When I left Australia, I wasn't ready to play for the Wallabies. I have never said that. All I said was that my talent was mismanaged. Going to Scotland, my talent was managed correctly. The coaches had a massive [impact] on my career, first Danny Wilson, then Franco Smith and finally Gregor Townsend.
'I can't say enough about Gregor because when I got to Scotland, I wasn't the finished product – I'm still not the finished product, I know that – but I needed time in the saddle to learn and he gave me that.
'He stuck by me maybe because he could see my potential and the reason for my success is because he stuck by me. He put his arm around me and I never want to let him down because of that.
'It was the same with my mum and dad when they sent me to that school, it was the same with my teacher when he put his arm around me, I didn't want to let my coach down. I think that is my personality, I am driven by not wanting to let people down.
'I feel like I am where I am supposed to be. I've captained Scotland now. I've gained many, many new friends and my son was born in Glasgow.'
'Boys from back home told me to shut up'
Tuipulotu's backstory means that the Scotland captain is ready to face his native Australia with arguably an extra edge compared to his team-mates. He is primed for any abuse from the Australian players or supporters.
'I am ready for it,' he adds with a chuckle. 'Like I said, I play my best rugby when there's a big chip on my shoulder. If they are going to add to the chip, it just helps me and I will get more emotionally invested so that will only be a good thing for me.
'It comes with the territory. There are going to be things said on both sides. That's why I love rugby, that's why I love sport. It is not the things that you say are necessarily going to get the job done. It is the things that you do. There is always going to be noise, it is the biggest tour in the world, but it is cool that you get to answer it.'
There are still some answers to deliver after Australia's defeat by Scotland last November when Joseph Sua'ali'i lined up Tuipulotu at centre for a massive tackle, only to injure himself in the process. Tuipulotu gave him a send-off but Sua'ali'i delivered a pointed warning, 'I'll see you next time'.
'It was quite a noisy game,' the Lions 12 recalls. 'But that made the game so fun for me. I know a lot of those boys from back home and played rugby with them. They were telling me to shut up because I was so motivated, but it was all good fun.'
Finally, I ask him about his tattoo and the answer should leave no one in any doubt about his commitment to the Lions' cause. It is from the cover of an album by Lauryn Hill, the American rapper.
' The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill is my mum's favourite album,' he adds. 'We grew up on Lauryn Hill's music. It was quite a spontaneous tattoo, to be honest, because I'm not covered in them. I got it because of my mum and the influence she had on me. The story of my upbringing is that I was pretty terrified of my dad, but my mum raised me and I know how excited she is to see me play for the Lions. All my family in Australia had the red merchandise even before I had!
'Me playing for the Lions is as big an achievement for them as it is for me. To get on this tour, you have to be lucky in your own life, but to be there, you have to be lucky to have parents to have put you in a position to do well. That's the story for me. Me playing in this tour is not just a representation of my own work but also theirs. And my granny is going to be there with her bells and whistles on, too. I am just desperate to contribute as much as I can.'
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