‘Still a chip on my shoulder’: Lions’ Tuipulotu eyes ultimate Melbourne return

BRISBANE — British and Irish Lions star Sione Tuipulotu has rolled into Melbourne intent on wrapping up the series with the Wallabies next Saturday, the Australian-raised Scotsman still carrying the “chip on his shoulder” that first drove him away from the game Down Under.

Tuipulotu has a rare opportunity to etch his name into Lions folklore by helping his side lock up a second straight series win over Australia – and what better place to do it than in the city where his love of rugby first took root.

That may seem odd given the rugby outpost that Melbourne is – there is no longer a professional rugby program in the state of Victoria following the Rebels’ demise – but it will matter little to the Lions centre and Scotland captain should he help deliver the tourists some silverware in front of friends and family this weekend.

It will be a special moment for the 28-year-old regardless, a full-circle journey that retains the mental edge that set him on a path first to Japan and then onto Scotland.

“I think if you asked me when I first moved from Melbourne I would say, ‘yeah, it is personal’,” Tuipulotu told reporters after Saturday’s first Test win in Brisbane. “I think there is still a chip on my shoulder.

“I feel like that’s what has got me to this point is having that chip on my shoulder. But in terms of being bitter about Australian rugby, I feel like not at all.

“I always say I wasn’t good enough to play for the Wallabies when I was in Melbourne. It wasn’t a selector problem. I wasn’t good enough. That’s plain and simple.

“But I owe everything to Scottish rugby and now I get a chance to go back to Melbourne and play in my home city and hopefully close out a Test series.”

Much has been made of Tuipulotu’s presence in the red jersey as one of three Australia-raised players in the team, among others who grew up in South Africa and New Zealand.

But it is the former Melbournian’s defection to Scotland that has really stung Australia and once again shone the spotlight on Australia’s talent identification and pathways systems.

That is no concern for Tuipulotu though, who after departing Australia for Japan at the end of 2019 has never looked back; he has since gone on to establish himself as not only a linchpin of Scotland’s steady improvement but also as one of the world’s top inside centres.

And he now has the chance to rub salt into Australia’s wounds, both on and off the field, as the Lions try to achieve what they couldn’t in either 2001and 2013 – wrap up their series with the Wallabies in Melbourne.

“We could close out the series in my hometown,” Tuipulotu said.

“I know all the attention is going to shift to how we can play better from this game. We left a lot of points out there in the first half. The game should have been done after 30-40 minutes, we could have put enough points on there to really put a nail in the coffin.

“To go back to Melbourne this week and hopefully play in front of my family and get another opportunity to play. The stars have aligned for me. I’m just very grateful.”

Tuipulotu also revealed his brother, Mosese, who followed him to Scotland a couple of years ago, was the flagbearer for the Docklands Stadium contest 12 years ago.

This weekend’s clash will take place across town at the MCG, where a crowd in excess of 90,000 people will gather to see if the Wallabies can push the series to a deciding game in Sydney or the tourists shut the door on them once and for all.

Tuipulotu, for one, is expecting a far sterner Australia challenge in Melbourne.

“They have to be, don’t they?” Tuipulotu said. “They have to be. Of course, we expect that.

“I think the most important thing this week is that we expect them to be desperate, but no more desperate than us, because we’re trying to close out a series next Saturday.

“We’ll focus on us this week and try and get everything right like we did this week and just up our performance again and then we can close it out.

“They might have a couple of players come back for them as well. I grew up with Rob Valentini. I know what he brings to the team. Guys like Willie Skelton. If they come off the injury list, they’ll definitely add. They’re all things we need to prepare for.”