2 weeks Ago
Tuipulotu, whose grandmother, Jacqueline Thomson, hails from Greenock, received an honorary membership of Greenock Wanderers last year, alongside Jacqueline and his younger brother Mosese late last year. Wanderers players and members were looking forward to cheering on Tuipulotu - until the 27-year-old was ruled out of the entire tournament after with Glasgow Warriors. Tukalo, part of the last Scotland team to win a Grand Slam in what was then the Five Nations Championship way back in 1990, spoke to the Tele during a brief stop-off at the Wanderers' clubhouse on 'Doddie's Grand Tour' - a fund-raising bike ride from Dublin to Edinburgh held in memory of another Scotland legend, Doddie Weir.
The riders visited Fort Matilda on their 700-mile ride to Murrayfield to raise cash for the My Name'5 Doddie Foundation - set up to carry out research into a cure for motor neurone disease, which claimed the life of the legendary Scottish lock-forward in November 2022, at the age of just 52. That was off the back of a that saw Jacqueline fly back to her homeland to watch her grandsons represent Scotland in the Autumn Series. During her visit Jacqueline also 60 years after emigrating to Australia.
Tukalo, who started on the wing in the legendary win over England that saw the Scots complete a Five Nations clean sweep 35 years ago next month, says Tuipulotu's absence will make Sunday's mouth-watering clash a whole new game. But the 63-year-old, who won 37 full caps for his country between 1985 and 1992, says Scotland still have the strength in depth to pull off a famous victory on Sunday. "Scotland have a lot of strength in depth, and whoever they decide to bring in, whether or not they retain the same team that finished the game against Italy, they're there on merit and able to do a job.
"Sione is his own entity. If he was fit then Ireland would then have to set up a defence to negate him getting across the game-line, which he's exceptional at. "That would have created space elsewhere for the likes of Huw Jones, Blair Kinghorn and Duhan van der Merwe to go and exploit.
"If Ireland don't have to commit, then that's not going to be the case. "He's a big miss, but don't underestimate the depth and the talent that the squad possesses. "There's a really good team spirit in the camp.
The SRU and Gregor Townsend invited members of the 1984 and 1990 Grand Slam squad to the captain's run last Friday, before the Italy game, and the atmosphere and vibe from the players was palpable. "The players came over and spoke to us. They just seem to have a really good team spirit, and they believe in themselves now.
"Without Sione, who was in such a good vein of form, it's going to be a proper litmus test for them, but I'm really looking forward to the game." This is the second year Tukalo has teamed up with former Scotland captain Rob Wainwright to complete a special bike ride for , having cycled all the way to the Stadio Olimpico for the Italy-Scotland fixture. But he's hoping for a happier climax to this year's trip than the 31-29 loss suffered by the Scots in that game last March.
He added: "We cycled to Rome last year, and had tickets for the game. "Having just finished a mammoth trip on a big high, we wanted to round if off by seeing Scotland win, and then they went and lost. "In the moment it was gutting, but we didn't let it take away from what we'd just achieved.
"Hopefully that's not going to happen this time and we can see Scotland claim a famous win at Murrayfield.".
