'I'm so proud' - Sione Tuipulotu on being named Scotland captain

Gregor Townsend opted for co-captains during the Six Nations, while he shared the responsibility around during the summer tour. 

But the Scotland head coach said he felt the time was right to hand the responsibility to one person, and sees this as a long-term appointment. 

Read more:

• Gregor Townsend names Scotland squad for Autumn Nations Series
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Tuipulotu, who qualifies for Scotland via his Greenock-born grandmother Jaqueline Thomson, explained what being asked to lead Scotland means: “I really didn’t expect it, but I feel like I’m ready for the job and over the last couple of years I’ve gathered some valuable experience with Glasgow and with Scotland."

Tuipulotu knows what the captaincy will mean to his family, who live in Australia, where he and brother Mosese, who is also included by Townsend for the first time, grew up. 

"I know how much this will mean to my family back home, especially my gran," he continued. 

"I haven’t really told any of my family yet except my dad, just because I want it to be more of surprise for my family and also because my mum’s coming over and it’ll be her first game at Murrayfield, so I feel like the stars are kind of aligning for me and I’m really excited for it."

Tuipulotu and partner Lara had their first child earlier this year, and the new skipper is looking forward to his son being at Murrayfield when he leads the team out for the first time. 

"It’ll be my son’s first game and also my mum’s first game at Murrayfield so it’s going to be special," he said. 

Sione Tuipulotu has taken over the captaincy from Finn Russell (Image: SNS) Tuipulotu wears his heart on his sleeve. Unsurprisingly he admitted the phonecall from Townsend to deliver the news was emotional. 

He said: “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."

While the new captain wants to challenge his brother, he said it is a "fairytale" for the pair to be included by Scotland together. 

Mosese Tuipulotu has earned a first Scotland call-up (Image: SNS)

"It’s a fairytale to have my brother there in the squad and I’m captain. I just feel really blessed," he said.

With the back-to-back world champions South Africa and the Wallabies among the visitors to Scottish Gas Murrayfield this autumn, the new captain knows the importance of a good start against Fiji on November 2. 

"For this team the most important thing is that we start well against Fiji," he said.  

"I know there’s not as much of a tournament feel about it as a Six Nations or a World Cup, but each game poses its own challenge and we’ve got to get our heads around trying to win each and every one of them.”