Sione Tuipulotu admits he is considering Glasgow future

The Scotland centre Tuipulotu is out of contract at the end of the season and it’s understood that English sides Bath and Harlequins have made enquiries about him while there is also thought to be interest from French clubs.

After the 28-24 league defeat in Durban, Warriors’ skipper for the day Tuipulotu, 27, said:  “I have had to think about that [my future], but there is no comment really [regarding the recent speculation].

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“I am happy where I am and where I am playing and I love being part of this team and there’s not a lot more to say around that.”

In terms of the game itself, well the Warriors were just 15-12 behind at half-time and, after George Horne’s second try, wanted to kick on after the interval, but Tuipulotu believes the 20 minutes after the interval were when things became unstuck.

“We were feeling pretty confident at half-time and the plan was to stick in the game for as long as we could,” he stated.

“We wanted to stick to our processes and be comfortable when our chances came. We turned the screw heading into half-time, but then we missed our opportunity to take that on after the break.

Sione Tuipulotu attempts to stop Sharks centre Lukhanyo Am (Image: Getty Images) “There were probably just a few moments where it got away from us like after half-time when we had an attack in their ‘22’ and we could have scored there or at least got some points and put some pressure on them, but then they got a penalty.

“I think the story of the second half was that we lost the kick battle and probably the discipline battle as well.

“I just think there was a period just after half-time, probably that 20-minute block just after the break, when we were losing the kicking battle a little bit and the Sharks got on the front foot a bit.

“The boys were competing well in the air, but they started edging us out there and we maybe kicked too much for a spell.”

After 66 minutes, replacement Gregor Brown was yellow carded and the Springbok-laden Sharks, 18-12 up at that point, took advantage and, with minutes to go, were 28-12 ahead.

Late tries from Rory Darge and Johnny Matthews grabbed the Warriors two bonus points and the skipper continued:  “I was really happy with how the boys played in the last 10 minutes or so to get two bonus points.

“Our DNA is about using the ball a bit more, like we did at the end there when we got those two tries. The tries came too late, but to get two bonus points gives us something as we look to build into the next game.

“Those two points could be quite vital, but last year out here in South Africa we took two bonus points against the Bulls and then we got beaten quite soundly by the Lions so we are not getting ahead of ourselves.

“We came here to win this game and we are disappointed that we didn’t and now we have to focus on the Stormers.

Sione Tuipulotu has attracted interest from England and France (Image: SNS)

“It’ll be another tough game against the Stormers, but we have had some success against them in the past and we know the challenge ahead and we will start to get our heads around trying to take seven points [in total] away from this trip to South Africa.”

The Stormers will be going into this coming Saturday afternoon clash at the Danie Craven Stadium in Stellenbosch on a high after a 34-19 bonus point win over Munster at the weekend which took them away from the bottom of the table.