Sione Tuipulotu's rise from playing club rugby with his father to representing the British and Irish Lions

Watching Australian Sione Tuipulotu playing for the British and Irish Lions should make the Wallabies wince.

But lasting regrets would belie Tuipulotu's rise from rugby backblocks to international fame. His feats deserve comparison to trailblazers like Ange Postecoglou, Minjee Lee, and Jordan Mailata.

ABC Sport will have live blog coverage of the British and Irish Lions' tour of Australia this July and August.

Two generations ago, Tuipulotu's family was Scottish, Tongan, and Italian.

His grandmother, Anne Thompson, moved with her parents and siblings from Greenock, outside Glasgow, to North Frankston (known as The Pines), an hour's drive from Melbourne, in 1963.

Her daughter, Angelina, whose father was Italian, met Fohe Tuipulotu while he was studying at RMIT in Melbourne on an AusAID scholarship from Tonga.

They married and moved to Tonga before returning to Australia to raise five children: two girls, Kiesse and Keanna, and three boys, Sione, Mosese and Ottavio.

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Sione played soccer while attending St Francis Xavier Primary School in Frankston.

His childhood was spent in the Australian football heartland, where few people knew or cared about the differences between rugby and rugby league. The ranking of football codes in popularity was Australian Rules — daylight — soccer, rugby league and rugby.

Sione was in his first year at the public high school Elisabeth Murdoch College when he decided to try rugby at Southern Districts, a family club in nearby Seaford — a world away from the private school programs in Sydney and Brisbane.

But 'Souths' had everything children needed to improve their skills and showcase natural abilities.

Fohe put up his hand to coach.

Sione recently sent a video message to his old friends:

"I just want to say how much I miss it (Souths)," he said.

"I've played for quite a few teams now, but I've never had more fun than when I played for Souths. I hope me and my brothers (Mosese and Ottavio) can all go back there one day and finish off our careers playing for Souths."

Fohe Tuipulotu said he had always promised he would help get his boys to the top.

"When we changed from soccer I was playing rugby here and I knew a lot of people in the sport anyway," he said.

"We went to Southern Districts because the coach at the time — he coached me in Powerhouse (a more prominent rugby club in Melbourne) back in the day. From there, it was obvious (Sione was a standout).

"When they (his sons) decided to play rugby, I promised them I would help them to get to the top. Obviously, the plan at the start was for them to play for either Australia or Tonga."

Fohe Tuipulotu (centre) got to play with his sons Sione and Mosese for Southern Districts/ (Supplied)

Southern District's club president Karl Dix recalled refereeing many of Sione's junior games.

"When he got the ball you knew he was going to break the line," Dix said.

Sione and Mosese briefly joined their father in the senior team. The Tuipulutos' speed, power, and game sense also made them automatic selections in state underage carnivals.

Private school St Kevin's College Toorak awarded Sione a scholarship in Year 9 and his brothers followed him to that school.

"It was a massive opportunity at the time," Fohe said.

Sione played for the Australian Schoolboys and Junior Wallabies (Australia Under 20) for three consecutive years, 2015-17.

He became the first Victorian to debut for the Melbourne Rebels.

Moving abroad kick-starts Sione's rise

Turmoil was caused in Australian rugby next season when the Western Force folded and many of its players came across the continent to play Super Rugby for the Rebels.

Sione's opportunities became scarce.

"He was doing really well," Fohe said.

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"That's when things changed. He was sitting on the bench and the team was already beaten by 40 points, 50 points, and they only gave him five minutes.

"I can understand for a young kid, who has been good, good, good, good, and then he's hitting that kind of wall. It's going to be hard, mentally."

Fohe's advice to his son was to stay with the Rebels and keep trying.

"At the time, for me personally, I like to fight. Stay there and fight," he said.

"And that's what I told him to do. I didn't realise his mental health was affected at the time.

"But he didn't tell me because he wanted to respect my decision, which is a learning curve for me now."

A circuit breaker came for Sione in 2018 with the acceptance of an invitation to play in Japan during the off season.

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After a frustrating stretch with the Rebels he enjoyed the two-month experience, and Yamaha Jubilo (now Shizuoka Blue Revs) liked Sione so much that they wanted him to stay.

"He rang me up to come and see him and I knew there was something up," Fohe said.

"And he asked me to let him go. He had an offer to go back to Japan and play for them full-time. They offered him two years. He was struggling."

With Fohe's blessing, Sione stayed with the Japanese club and his game, and confidence, grew.

"Those two years that he went and played in Japan he played every single game for 80 minutes," Fohe said.

"And I saw the improvement in his game and I saw it quick. I think that was when Scotland was looking at him."

UK officials had witnessed Sione playing for Australia's under-20s at the World Cup in Manchester in 2016, with the knowledge that his grandmother was a Scot.

"I met some of the coaching staff from Scotland at the time," Fohe said.

"But our focus wasn't in Scotland, our focus was for them to grow up here and play for Australia."

Five years later, Sione said yes to an offer from Glasgow Warriors.

The big move into the Scottish national team came via a phone call from the coach Gregor Townsend.

International career takes off

Sione made his debut for Scotland against his father's homeland, Tonga, in 2021.

Three years later he was made captain for a series that would include the Scottish debut of his brother Mosese, who had been following Sione through the ranks.

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"The most emotional phone call I've ever had was Gregor phoning me to tell me I'll be Scotland captain," Sione told Scottish media.

"But when he phoned to say my brother would be included, that was a pretty close second."

The Tuipulotu brothers opposed Australia at Murrayfield Stadium, winning 27-13. Their grandmother made the trip from Frankston to be in the grandstands.

"It was an amazing moment," Sione told the BBC.

"When she handed over the cup she said, 'you got 'em!'. I'm super happy and it makes the day all worthwhile."

The youngest Tuipulotu brother, Ottavio, represented the Junior Wallabies in 2024.

"It's unbelievable," Fohe said.

"Because all of them play professional now. I knew the quality of how he (Sione) is and that determination — I knew he was going to go all the way.

"To see him grow not only with his rugby but his family life, for me as a father is very humbling."

Grandmother Anne, 77, was not much of a sports watcher until her three grandsons took up rugby.

"I thought they were the bee's knees when they were little — very cute and very funny," she told ABC Sport.

"It's very exciting to watch them playing and to be at the games."

Sione and his partner, Lara, had a son last year and named him Fohe Junior.

Sione Tuipulotu, Lara Tuipulotu and Fohe Tuipulotu Junior pose for a family photo. (Supplied)

"I told them (his sons) that they have gone to represent their mum's side," Fohe Snr said.

"Their kids belong to me — that's the deal. I'll pick Australia or Tonga."

Sione made his British and Irish Lions debut in a loss to Argentina on Sunday morning in the midfield with New Zealand-born Irish champion Bundee Aki.

His whole family will watch the series against Australia with typical humility and pride.

Fohe and Angelina now live in Williamstown, a long drive from Frankston, but not all that far from the Melbourne Cricket Ground, where the Lions and Wallabies will play the second Test on July 26.

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