How a granny in suburban Australia helped a Junior Wallaby become the new captain of Scotland

The Scottish grandmother of former Melbourne Rebels centre Sione Tuipulotu has expressed her pride after the 27-year-old was named the new captain of Scotland’s rugby side, and his younger brother Mosese also won a national call-up.

Tuipulotu – a former Junior Wallaby – was announced as the new Scotland captain by coach Gregor Townsend on Thursday morning as part of a 45-man squad named for the November internationals.

Tuipulotu grew up in Melbourne and played three years for the Australian under-20s side before becoming the Rebels’ first homegrown Super Rugby player in 2015.

After struggling to get consistent game time over three seasons, Tuipulotu moved to Japan and then Scotland, where he joined Glasgow in 2020. Qualifying for the Scottish national side through his maternal grandmother, Jacquelin “Anne” Thomson, Tuipulotu made his Test debut for the Scots in 2021.

He has played 29 Tests since and grown into such a star for Scotland that Townsend turned to Tuipulotu when he was searching for a new captain.

Sione Tuipulotu charging for Scotland against Italy in the Six Nations in 2023.Credit: Getty Images

That captaincy news was big enough for the Tuipulotu clan, but the kicker of middle son Mosese, 23, also getting a call-up prompted emotional scenes back in Melbourne.

“It is probably the proudest moment of my life,” father Fohe Tuipulotu said on Thursday, with a cracking voice.

The happiest in the household however was Thomson, the devoted Scottish granny who gets up to watch all their games and routinely gets thanked on Scottish rugby chat forums whenever a Tuipulotu plays a blinder.

“As you can imagine, naturally I am very proud of them. It is almost unbelievable,” Thompson told this masthead. “It’s beyond our wildest dreams.”

Former Melbourne Rebels player Sione Tuipulotu with his Scottish grandmother Jaqueline ‘Anne’ Thomson.

Thomson grew up in Greenock, outside Glasgow, but emigrated to Australia and built a new life in Frankston, in south-east Melbourne. Though the Tuipulotu boys grew up dreaming of playing for Australia, they were also eligible for Tonga (through their father) and have Scottish-Italian heritage on their mother Angelina’s side.

Both Sione and Mosese played junior representative rugby for Australia, but with limited game time for the Rebels and Waratahs respectively, both ended up in Scotland, representing their grandmother.

“We are very, very close. They have always been good to me, and very respectful and kind. What else could I be but proud of them?” Thomson said.

Mosese Tuipulotu only played five games for the Waratahs.Credit: Waratahs Rugby

“I love a game and I always watch when they’re playing during the night. It’s usually at 3am in the morning. But that’s fine – I love it. It’s a chance to see them, too. Because I miss them.”

Tuipulotu said the news his younger brother Mosese had also been called up to the Scotland squad almost matched his appointment as skipper. Former Wallabies flanker Jack Dempsey is also in the squad.

Mosese departed the Waratahs at the end of the season to play for Edinburgh after several years of pursuit by the Scottish Rugby Union. The centre, who played for the Australian under-18s, turned the SRU down to re-sign with NSW in 2023, but he was given limited opportunities, with just five Super Rugby caps in the last two years. After just 12 minutes off the NSW bench last season, Mosese moved to Edinburgh, where he has since started in four games.

“The most emotional phone call I’ve ever had was Gregor phoning me to tell me I’ll be Scotland captain, but when he phoned to say my brother would be included was a pretty close second,” Sione Tuipulotu told reporters in Scotland.

“He’s very similar to me. He’s the most competitive guy I’ve ever met, and I know if his number’s called upon, he will take it with both hands and he’ll play with his heart. To be honest, we always joke about this, but my gran back home, her favourite’s always been Mosese.

“I know my gran will be so proud of him and I’m really looking forward to getting to work with him.

“She has a thick Scottish accent, so I always knew I was Scottish. She played a massive part in me and my siblings’ upbringing. My parents used to work pretty hard when we were younger so they were at work ... we would go and stay over at my grandma’s house.”

The loss of the Tuipulotu brothers – and Sione’s elevation to captain and likely selection for the British and Irish Lions next year – will renew questions about the gaps in Rugby Australia’s talent retention system.

Particularly given a third brother, Ottavio, played hooker in the Junior Wallabies this year and is in the Waratahs’ system, and his older brothers said recently they’re keen to get him to Scotland, too.

Sione Tuipulotu is the second Australian to captain Scotland, after former Wallaby Doug Keller also led the Scots in 1949.

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