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Sione Tuipulotu interview: Private school saved me from life of crime
Sione Tuipulotu interview: Private school saved me from life of crime

Telegraph

time20-07-2025

  • Telegraph

Sione Tuipulotu interview: Private school saved me from life of crime

Sione Tuipulotu is talking about his childhood growing up in Frankston, a suburb of Melbourne. It is not some idyllic recall of golden days. The Scotland captain will happily talk all day, but he does not do cliched answers. 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.'

Sione Tuipulotu's rise from playing club rugby with his father to representing the British and Irish Lions
Sione Tuipulotu's rise from playing club rugby with his father to representing the British and Irish Lions

ABC News

time23-06-2025

  • Sport
  • ABC News

Sione Tuipulotu's rise from playing club rugby with his father to representing the British and Irish Lions

Watching Australian Sione Tuipulotu playing for the British and Irish Lions should make the Wallabies wince. But lasting regrets would belie Tuipulotu's rise from rugby backblocks to international fame. His feats deserve comparison to trailblazers like Ange Postecoglou, Minjee Lee, and Jordan Mailata. ABC Sport will have live blog coverage of the British and Irish Lions' tour of Australia this July and August. Two generations ago, Tuipulotu's family was Scottish, Tongan, and Italian. His grandmother, Anne Thompson, moved with her parents and siblings from Greenock, outside Glasgow, to North Frankston (known as The Pines), an hour's drive from Melbourne, in 1963. Her daughter, Angelina, whose father was Italian, met Fohe Tuipulotu while he was studying at RMIT in Melbourne on an AusAID scholarship from Tonga. They married and moved to Tonga before returning to Australia to raise five children: two girls, Kiesse and Keanna, and three boys, Sione, Mosese and Ottavio. Sione played soccer while attending St Francis Xavier Primary School in Frankston. His childhood was spent in the Australian football heartland, where few people knew or cared about the differences between rugby and rugby league. The ranking of football codes in popularity was Australian Rules — daylight — soccer, rugby league and rugby. Sione was in his first year at the public high school Elisabeth Murdoch College when he decided to try rugby at Southern Districts, a family club in nearby Seaford — a world away from the private school programs in Sydney and Brisbane. But 'Souths' had everything children needed to improve their skills and showcase natural abilities. Fohe put up his hand to coach. Sione recently sent a video message to his old friends: "I just want to say how much I miss it (Souths)," he said. "I've played for quite a few teams now, but I've never had more fun than when I played for Souths. I hope me and my brothers (Mosese and Ottavio) can all go back there one day and finish off our careers playing for Souths." Fohe Tuipulotu said he had always promised he would help get his boys to the top. "When we changed from soccer I was playing rugby here and I knew a lot of people in the sport anyway," he said. "We went to Southern Districts because the coach at the time — he coached me in Powerhouse (a more prominent rugby club in Melbourne) back in the day. From there, it was obvious (Sione was a standout). "When they (his sons) decided to play rugby, I promised them I would help them to get to the top. Obviously, the plan at the start was for them to play for either Australia or Tonga." Southern District's club president Karl Dix recalled refereeing many of Sione's junior games. "When he got the ball you knew he was going to break the line," Dix said. Sione and Mosese briefly joined their father in the senior team. The Tuipulutos' speed, power, and game sense also made them automatic selections in state underage carnivals. Private school St Kevin's College Toorak awarded Sione a scholarship in Year 9 and his brothers followed him to that school. "It was a massive opportunity at the time," Fohe said. Sione played for the Australian Schoolboys and Junior Wallabies (Australia Under 20) for three consecutive years, 2015-17. He became the first Victorian to debut for the Melbourne Rebels. Turmoil was caused in Australian rugby next season when the Western Force folded and many of its players came across the continent to play Super Rugby for the Rebels. Sione's opportunities became scarce. "He was doing really well," Fohe said. "That's when things changed. He was sitting on the bench and the team was already beaten by 40 points, 50 points, and they only gave him five minutes. "I can understand for a young kid, who has been good, good, good, good, and then he's hitting that kind of wall. It's going to be hard, mentally." Fohe's advice to his son was to stay with the Rebels and keep trying. "At the time, for me personally, I like to fight. Stay there and fight," he said. "And that's what I told him to do. I didn't realise his mental health was affected at the time. "But he didn't tell me because he wanted to respect my decision, which is a learning curve for me now." A circuit breaker came for Sione in 2018 with the acceptance of an invitation to play in Japan during the off season. After a frustrating stretch with the Rebels he enjoyed the two-month experience, and Yamaha Jubilo (now Shizuoka Blue Revs) liked Sione so much that they wanted him to stay. "He rang me up to come and see him and I knew there was something up," Fohe said. "And he asked me to let him go. He had an offer to go back to Japan and play for them full-time. They offered him two years. He was struggling." With Fohe's blessing, Sione stayed with the Japanese club and his game, and confidence, grew. "Those two years that he went and played in Japan he played every single game for 80 minutes," Fohe said. "And I saw the improvement in his game and I saw it quick. I think that was when Scotland was looking at him." UK officials had witnessed Sione playing for Australia's under-20s at the World Cup in Manchester in 2016, with the knowledge that his grandmother was a Scot. "I met some of the coaching staff from Scotland at the time," Fohe said. "But our focus wasn't in Scotland, our focus was for them to grow up here and play for Australia." Five years later, Sione said yes to an offer from Glasgow Warriors. The big move into the Scottish national team came via a phone call from the coach Gregor Townsend. Sione made his debut for Scotland against his father's homeland, Tonga, in 2021. Three years later he was made captain for a series that would include the Scottish debut of his brother Mosese, who had been following Sione through the ranks. "The most emotional phone call I've ever had was Gregor phoning me to tell me I'll be Scotland captain," Sione told Scottish media. "But when he phoned to say my brother would be included, that was a pretty close second." The Tuipulotu brothers opposed Australia at Murrayfield Stadium, winning 27-13. Their grandmother made the trip from Frankston to be in the grandstands. "It was an amazing moment," Sione told the BBC. "When she handed over the cup she said, 'you got 'em!'. I'm super happy and it makes the day all worthwhile." The youngest Tuipulotu brother, Ottavio, represented the Junior Wallabies in 2024. "It's unbelievable," Fohe said. "Because all of them play professional now. I knew the quality of how he (Sione) is and that determination — I knew he was going to go all the way. "To see him grow not only with his rugby but his family life, for me as a father is very humbling." Grandmother Anne, 77, was not much of a sports watcher until her three grandsons took up rugby. "I thought they were the bee's knees when they were little — very cute and very funny," she told ABC Sport. "It's very exciting to watch them playing and to be at the games." Sione and his partner, Lara, had a son last year and named him Fohe Junior. "I told them (his sons) that they have gone to represent their mum's side," Fohe Snr said. "Their kids belong to me — that's the deal. I'll pick Australia or Tonga." Sione made his British and Irish Lions debut in a loss to Argentina on Sunday morning in the midfield with New Zealand-born Irish champion Bundee Aki. His whole family will watch the series against Australia with typical humility and pride. Fohe and Angelina now live in Williamstown, a long drive from Frankston, but not all that far from the Melbourne Cricket Ground, where the Lions and Wallabies will play the second Test on July 26.

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