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STV News
2 days ago
- Sport
- 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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CNA
12-05-2025
- Sport
- CNA
Parling to replace Cheika as Leicester head coach
Former Leicester Tigers player Geoff Parling will replace Michael Cheika as head coach for next season once his assistant role with Australia ends, the English Premiership club said on Monday. Former Australia coach Cheika will leave when his contract expires at the end of the campaign, with the club always aware he would depart after one year in the job. The 41-year-old Parling, who won two Premiership titles with Leicester in six years at the club, was assistant coach for the Melbourne Rebels before returning for a second spell with the Wallabies as part of Joe Schmidt's staff. "I was lucky enough to have some incredible moments in the Leicester Tigers jersey, made through hard work by good people, and so I am extremely proud to be coming back to lead the club," Parling said in a Leicester statement. The former lock, who made 29 appearances for England, also played three times for the British & Irish Lions during the 2013 series when they beat Australia, and will be the lineout coach for the Lions in this year's series there. "There are not many opportunities that would make myself and my family think about leaving Australia, the place we've called home for the past seven years," Parling added. "But coming back to Leicester Tigers is one that we are really looking forward to." Leicester announced Cheika's departure at the end of January and the former Wallabies coach met with Australia CEO Phil Waugh in February, fuelling speculation that he would return to the Australia job when Schmidt stepped down. However, Les Kiss has since been confirmed as the successor to Schmidt, who had been expected to leave in October but agreed to remain until July 2026.
The Guardian
12-02-2025
- Sport
- The Guardian
Super Rugby kicks off with high hopes of Australian drought being broken
The most important Wallabies winter in two decades kicks off this weekend when Australia's Super Rugby Pacific sides play their first games of the 2025 season. With all four state provinces reinforced by key players from the disbanded Melbourne Rebels, hopes have never been higher for a first local champion in 11 years. The trophy cabinet at Rugby Australia headquarters desperately needs new tenants. Although the Wallabies won back the Ella-Mobbs silverware with their season-high triumph over England in November, the Bledisloe Cup hasn't been seen hereabouts since 2003 when the Rugby World Cup, resident for eight years of the 90s, also left. A Super Rugby Pacific trophy in June would supercharge Australian rugby for the triple-header series against the British & Irish Lions in July and the tune-up against Fiji a fortnight prior. Then comes Rugby Championship duels against the world champion South Africa (both away Tests), Argentina (both home) and New Zealand (in Auckland and Perth). Those 10 Tests will be Joe Schmidt's last as Wallabies coach. By the time Australia travel to Japan to take on Eddie Jones's Brave Blossoms, a new coach will be in charge of the national side, preparing for the first 2026 Nations Championship between Europe and the Rest of the World, and the 2027 World Cup on home soil. The hunt for a new Wallabies coach adds a new level of intrigue to the Super Rugby Pacific season. All Australia's Super coaches are strong contenders for the top job with Les Kiss at the Queensland Reds, Dan McKellar at NSW Waratahs and Stephen Larkham at the ACT Brumbies the frontrunners, and each boasts a side studded with Wallabies. A raft of new law tweaks should suit the all-out attack of the Australian sides too. Conversion times have been cut from 90 seconds to 60 and there is more protection for scrum halves to kick or clear. A call of 'play on' for wonky lineout throws will quicken the flow of the game and reduce stoppages for faster resumptions of play. New Waratahs coach McKellar has assembled a formidable group for NSW, with 13 Wallabies in the side to take on the Hurricanes at home on Friday night. After an injury-decimated 2024 which saw them collect the wooden spoon, the Tahs have revamped their playing roster, backroom staff, coaching team, even the training field. They have an all-gold front row of Angus Bell, Dave Porecki and Taniela Tupou, and speed to burn in the backline with fullback Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii, wings Andrew Kellaway and Max Jorgensen and midfield charger Lalakai Foketi. If McKellar can get them firing within his famous set-piece systems, a rags-to-riches story could unfold. Kiss's first year in charge of the Reds delivered a fifth-place finish in 2024, their best result since 2013, and has Queenslanders dreaming of a first Super title since 2011. Australia's best attacking outfit have added Matt Gibbon, Filipo Daugunu, Lukhan Salakaia-Loto and Josh Canham to the arsenal in a stacked side of 18 Wallabies. A kind 2025 draw gifts the Reds a first round bye then four games against last season's bottom four sides. It sets them up sweetly for a run to the finals, with try-scoring freak Tim Ryan capable of rivalling Suaalii as a Wallabies posterboy and proven leaders in Wallabies skipper and Fraser McReight. Stephen Larkham's Brumbies enter 2025 as the most settled of the Australian sides. They have 14 Australian internationals in their squad, including playmaker Noah Lolesio, whose 87% record off the kicking tee saw the Brumbies go unbeaten at home last year. After three semi-finals in three years, 'Bernie' has them poised to go one better in 2025. Sign up to The Breakdown The latest rugby union news and analysis, plus all the week's action reviewed after newsletter promotion However, they are missing two-time John Eales medallist Rob Valetini at No 8 for the opening rounds and the fact they lost 27% of all their scrums last year gives them a curious weakness to fix with a tight-five that looks a little underweight, despite a hungry horde of locks and loose units in Charlie Cale, Nick Frost and Tom Hooper. The Western Force are the dark horses in Australia's stable. However, staying in Australia for the first four rounds and a fistful of winnable games, give them a good chance to start fast and set the running. Even if Simon Cron's side struggle early they have two home games either side of the mid-season bye to recover their wits. The Force deserve some luck after a shocking run of injuries cruelled their 2024. Again they've recruited wisely, with Waratahs flyer Dylan Pietsch joining the ranks, hoping to spark off Indigenous talisman Kurtley Beale when he returns mid-season. Schmidt favourite Jeremy Williams, a break-out star in 2024, will lead their charge. If Australia are to beat the Lions, rattle the Springboks and sweep the All Blacks this year and set themselves up for a shot at winning the World Cup on home turf, it has to start this weekend with regular and ruthless conquering of the New Zealand sides and the rising power of Fiji and Pasifika. The hunted must become the hunter.
