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.”
