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The Scotland message Sione Tuipulotu has laid out for South Africa

By PA
Sione Tuipulotu limbers up at Scotland training on Saturday (Photo by PA)

Sione Tuipulotu has challenged Scotland to signal their intent to move to the next level with a landmark victory over world champions South Africa. Gregor Townsend’s side have had some big wins over the likes of France, England, Wales and Australia in recent seasons, but have been unable to topple any of the world’s current top three nations – the Springboks, New Zealand and Ireland – under the current head coach.

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Recently-appointed captain Tuipulotu senses an opportunity to change that as he prepares to lead out the Scots – ranked seventh in the world – against the formidable Boks on Sunday.

“It only really clicked this morning when we were coming in on the bus that I’m captaining a side that is playing against South Africa,” said the 27-year-old at his captain’s run press conference on Saturday.

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Rassie Erasmus says the seven-one bench split will never be normalised

Rassie Erasmus believes a seven-one split on the bench is something that will continue to divide opinion.

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Rassie Erasmus says the seven-one bench split will never be normalised

Rassie Erasmus believes a seven-one split on the bench is something that will continue to divide opinion.

“When I was growing up in Australia watching the Tri-Nations, which now is The Rugby Championship, and obviously the Springboks have such an aura around them, it’s kind of weird now that I’m in a position where I’m going to captain a side against them so it’s a massive opportunity for me.

“This is a game that we have been searching for for a long time, not just South Africa but we have been searching for a big win here at Murrayfield for a long time, and tomorrow is an opportunity for that.

Team Form

Last 5 Games

4
Wins
4
1
Streak
3
30
Tries Scored
20
114
Points Difference
72
4/5
First Try
4/5
3/5
First Points
3/5
4/5
Race To 10 Points
4/5

“We have been searching for a win against a top opponent like the All Blacks or the Springboks or Ireland or one of those top three teams for a long time now. Getting that win I believe instils a little bit of belief in your team and it kick-starts the team that we want to be.

“We see Sunday as an opportunity to really kick-start what we want this team to achieve. We have a free swing at the world champions and the most important thing is that we hop off that bus tomorrow here to win.”

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Tuipulotu this week signed a new contract with Glasgow until 2028, just days after leaving the door open to the possibility that he might leave at the end of this season. The burgeoning centre was linked with moves to France and England before pledging his future to Warriors.

“Yeah, definitely,” he said when asked if he held talks with any other clubs. “Every rugby player would and I was pretty clear with my manager (agent) and I was pretty open and honest with Glasgow that I would be exploring my opportunities elsewhere just because that is the right thing to do as a rugby player.

“I had a few offers somewhere else but when it came down to it, the Glasgow one just made sense to me. When you do finally sign and secure your future, there might be a bit of regret after but I only have relief really that I didn’t have to go somewhere else, maybe to chase money or play at a so-called high-profile club.

“I’m happy where I am at Glasgow, I have a pretty good shot of chasing silverware at Glasgow, so why move?”

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Related

Watch the highly acclaimed five-part documentary Chasing the Sun 2, chronicling the journey of the Springboks as they strive to successfully defend the Rugby World Cup, free on RugbyPass TV (*unavailable in Africa)

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Comments

2 Comments
F
FC 11 days ago

Scotland not captained by a Scot.....

How embarrasing.

The spirit of William Wallace is truly dead.

H
Hellhound 11 days ago

There should be only one message... NOTHING but a win is acceptable

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J
JW 2 hours ago
'Passionate reunion of France and New Zealand shows Fabien Galthie is wrong to rest his stars'

Ok, managed to read the full article..

... New Zealand’s has only 14 and the professional season is all over within four months. In France, club governance is the responsibility of an independent organisation [the Ligue Nationale de Rugby or LNR] which is entirely separate from the host union [the Fédération Française de Rugby or FFR]. Down south New Zealand Rugby runs the provincial and the national game.

That is the National Provincial Championship, a competition of 14 representative union based teams run through the SH international window and only semi professional (paid only during it's running). It is run by NZR and goes for two and a half months.


Super Rugby is a competition involving 12 fully professional teams, of which 5 are of New Zealand eligibility, and another joint administered team of Pacific Island eligibility, with NZR involvement. It was a 18 week competition this year, so involved (randomly chosen I believe) extra return fixtures (2 or 3 home and away derbys), and is run by Super Rugby Pacific's own independent Board (or organisation). The teams may or may not be independently run and owned (note, this does not necessarily mean what you think of as 'privately owned').


LNR was setup by FFR and the French Government to administer the professional game in France. In New Zealand, the Players Association and Super Rugby franchises agreed last month to not setup their own governance structure for professional rugby and re-aligned themselves with New Zealand Rugby. They had been proposing to do something like the English model, I'm not sure how closely that would have been aligned to the French system but it did not sound like it would have French union executive representation on it like the LNR does.

In the shaky isles the professional pyramid tapers to a point with the almighty All Blacks. In France the feeling for country is no more important than the sense of fierce local identity spawned at myriad clubs concentrated in the southwest. Progress is achieved by a nonchalant shrug and the wide sweep of nuanced negotiation, rather than driven from the top by a single intense focus.

Yes, it is pretty much a 'representative' selection system at every level, but these union's are having to fight for their existence against the regime that is NZR, and are currently going through their own battle, just as France has recently as I understand it. A single focus, ala the French game, might not be the best outcome for rugby as a whole.


For pure theatre, it is a wonderful article so far. I prefer 'Ntamack New Zealand 2022' though.

The young Crusader still struggles to solve the puzzle posed by the shorter, more compact tight-heads at this level but he had no problem at all with Colombe.

It was interesting to listen to Manny during an interview on Maul or Nothing, he citied that after a bit of banter with the All Black's he no longer wanted one of their jersey's after the game. One of those talks was an eye to eye chat with Tamaiti Williams, there appear to be nothing between the lock and prop, just a lot of give and take. I thought TW angled in and caused Taylor to pop a few times, and that NZ were lucky to be rewarded.

f you have a forward of 6ft 8ins and 145kg, and he is not at all disturbed by a dysfunctional set-piece, you are in business.

He talked about the clarity of the leadership that helped alleviate any need for anxiety at the predicaments unfolding before him. The same cannot be said for New Zealand when they had 5 minutes left to retrieve a match winning penalty, I don't believe. Did the team in black have much of a plan at any point in the game? I don't really call an autonomous 10 vehicle they had as innovative. I think Razor needs to go back to the dealer and get a new game driver on that one.

Vaa’i is no match for his power on the ground. Even in reverse, Meafou is like a tractor motoring backwards in low gear, trampling all in its path.

Vaa'i actually stops him in his tracks. He gets what could have been a dubious 'tackle' on him?

A high-level offence will often try to identify and exploit big forwards who can be slower to reload, and therefore vulnerable to two quick plays run at them consecutively.

Yes he was just standing on his haunches wasn't he? He mentioned that in the interview, saying that not only did you just get up and back into the line to find the opposition was already set and running at you they also hit harder than anything he'd experienced in the Top 14. He was referring to New Zealands ultra-physical, burst-based Super style of course, which he was more than a bit surprised about. I don't blame him for being caught out.


He still sent the obstruction back to the repair yard though!

What wouldn’t the New Zealand rugby public give to see the likes of Mauvaka and Meafou up front..

Common now Nick, don't go there! Meafou showed his Toulouse shirt and promptly got his citizenship, New Zealand can't have him, surely?!?


As I have said before with these subjects, really enjoy your enthusiasm for their contribution on the field and I'd love to see more of their shapes running out for Vern Cotter and the like styled teams.

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