Mosese Tuipulotu represented Edinburgh Rugby's most high-profile new signing this summer but the Australian-born centre could have been lining up for their rivals.
Glasgow Warriors were extremely interested in reuniting Tuipulotu with his older brother Sione at Scotstoun last summer with Scotland head coach Gregor Townsend involved in the wooing process.
It was reported in Australia that the Scottish Rugby Union had offered him a substantial six figure salary but Tuipulotu decided to remain at the Waratahs, citing his dream of pulling on the famous gold jersey.
Tuipulotu, however, eventually moved to Scotland this summer when he penned a two-year deal with Edinburgh and he will come under consideration from Townsend for the upcoming Autumn internationals.
The 23-year-old is a hugely promising talent and he’s opened up on his decision to reject Glasgow last summer, adding: “I suppose I was just at the point of my career where I wasn't ready to leave Australia. I had a bit to prove over there. Now 12 months down the track, I’ve done a bit and was content with what I'd done in that competition.
“I thought it was a chance for me to experience something different and I'm glad I did. I was in Australia and just saw a really good opportunity over in Edinburgh.
"Obviously, my brother moved here a couple of years ago and he kind of laid a good platform here and showed me there was a lot of potential here. So, I saw a great opportunity over here in Edinburgh and just wanted to take it.”
That’s only reinforced by the similarities in their physical attributes and style of play but it's abundantly clear that Mosese wants to make his own name.
“I kind of want people to talk about me rather than my brother and make a name for myself,” he admitted.
“Obviously it always happens that me and him are compared and whenever you're speaking about me, people are ready to speak about my brother as well and always comparing us.
On whether the comparisons frustrated him, Tuipulotu added: “Oh, no, mate. To be honest, I don't really care about it, but I think it's just something that happens naturally where, I guess, we play the same position and a similar style, so I guess people are always going to talk about that.”
The pair will go head-to-head in the 1872 Cup double header in December and it’s naturally been a topic of discussion between the brothers as they will face each other for the first time.
“There's been a bit of chat between us about that,” Tuipulotu added. “I said after the Gloucester game that it would be pretty cool to come up against him. Obviously, I haven't played against him and haven't played with him either, so I'm pretty keen to get one over him in December. We’ve been talking about it a bit at home and I'm sure it will be a good moment.”
Read more:
- Edinburgh's Mosese Tuipulotu out to follow in footsteps of brother
- Sean Everitt looks to ease expectations after Edinburgh sign Tuipulotu
Ahead of his Edinburgh debut last weekend, Sean Everitt spoke glowingly of Tuipulotu and claimed the ‘world is his oyster’.
“That was great to hear,” the Edinburgh star admitted. “I think it helps when you've got a coach that believes in you and supports you and is saying good things about you.
"I guess I just want to repay the coaches and put my best foot forward for this season. The whole coaching staff has been really good and they've allowed me to kind of be myself and just tell me that, you know, they brought me here for a reason and just to play my game. Yeah, that's really helped me over the past few weeks, just to knuckle down and just be myself.”
Tuipulotu is expected to start for Edinburgh when they face the Bulls in South Africa on Saturday.
It will be the first that the talented centre has played at altitude but he will take inspiration from Sione’s success in last season’s URC final at the Loftus Versfeld stadium Asked if he’d played at altitude before, Tuipulotu replied: “No, I haven't.
"This is my first time in South Africa, so it's kind of a different experience for me, but I'm really excited. Obviously, we had a bit of a training session and I was breathing pretty heavily, even walking around the hotel, I'm breathing a bit heavy, so...”
“Yeah, we can obviously take a bit of inspiration from that (Glasgow’s success).
"Obviously, I think there were a few people who were writing them off. For them to come over and beat the Bulls in Loftus at altitude was pretty cool to see.
"So, we can take a lot of inspiration from that. It's obviously shown that anyone can do it and there's a lot of teams that are able to win over here, just if they get their mind right around it.
"I haven't spoken to Sione yet this week, but I'm sure I'll give him a ring and ask him a few questions about it.”
Read the rules here