Source :- PERTH NOW NEWS
Sione Tuipulotu won’t deny it. “If I’m honest, I think I’ll always have that little bit of fire bubbling away whenever I play against the Wallabies,” muses the proud Melburnian, who’s gone on to become an even prouder Scottish totem.
But despite all the attention that inevitably focuses on him in a week like this as the Aussie braveheart with the tartan roots, Tuipulotu is keen to let Scotland know he understands the clash with Australia on Sunday (Monday AEDT) is really not about him.
“There’s a bigger picture than just looking at me and my history with Australia,” booms the 29-year-old captain.
“For us, it’s a got-to-have-it game … our minds are firmly set on bouncing back after last week. That performance wasn’t good enough. We know that, and we want to put that right.”
Tuipulotu oversaw that 43-21 loss to the All Blacks and was angry not only that his men played well below their best, but also that he was ill-disciplined enough to get 10 minutes in the bin when he should have been their on-field inspiration.
So a Tuipulotu who’s blaming himself and has gold shirts in his sights is definitely a reason for concern in the midfield battle at Murrayfield.
“He’s a confident guy; if we let him have things his way, front-foot ball, he goes a long way to leading that Scotland team,” muses Wallabies flanker Rob Valetini, who knows him from old junior battles.
“So if we can shut him down and slow the ball down for him, I think we’ll go a long way to winning.”
The other danger is that Tuipulotu, as a British and Irish Lion, knows exactly how the Wallabies are capable of hitting back after a shattering defeat, so he’ll have his troops well primed.
“I even think about the Lions after the first Test last year,” he reflected. “Australia bounced back into the second and third Tests with real vigour.
“I can only imagine what’s been going on in their meetings this week. It’s similar to ourselves in terms of wanting to get back out there and give a better account of yourself.
“I am certainly not expecting them to come here and just lay down. I am expecting their performance to be much improved, but I’d like to say the same for us as well.”
Anticipating the prospect of coming up against Wallaby replacement prop Isaac Kailea, his childhood friend from Melbourne’s Tongan community, Tuipulotu reflected on their battles in the backyard as kids.
“I am super proud of Isaac,” he said. “I spent all my childhood with him and his family. We were all very close.
“The games could be pretty violent at times and often they would completely veer off away from rugby. Sometimes it wouldn’t even be about rugby. There were times when there wasn’t even a ball …”
But as Kailea reflected last week, those matches always did end with Tuipulotu smashing them.
And with that little extra fire bubbling away too, well, the Wallabies know exactly what’s coming.
