Sione Tuipulotu fuelled by ‘chip on shoulder’ as he returns to Melbourne

Sione Tuipulotu returns to Melbourne carrying the chip on his shoulder that has driven his rise to becoming a British and Irish Lion.

Tuipulotu has touched down in the city where he was born and raised for what he hopes will become a glorious homecoming given a series triumph over Australia is the prize at stake following Saturday’s 27-19 victory in the first Test.

Six years ago he left for Japan, angry that his time at the Melbourne Rebels had failed to produce international recognition beyond the Junior Wallabies and having taken up an offer to play for Glasgow, he qualified for Scotland through his grandmother.

The 28-year-old has never looked back, going on to captain his adopted homeland while becoming one of the game’s finest centres. No longer bitter at being rejected by Australia, he realises the scars have served him well.

“If you had asked me when I first moved from Melbourne I would say yeah, it’s personal,” Tuipulotu said.

“There’s still a chip on my shoulder. What has got me to this point is having that chip on my shoulder. But in terms of me being bitter about Australian rugby, not at all.

“I wasn’t good enough to play for the Wallabies when I was in Melbourne. It wasn’t a selector problem, I wasn’t good enough, that’s plain and simple.

“I owe everything to Scottish rugby because they’ve made me the player that I am today.

“Now I get the chance to go back to Melbourne and play in my home city and hopefully close out a Test series. The stars have aligned for me and I feel very grateful.”

Tuipulotu was installed at inside centre ahead of Bundee Aki for the series opener in Brisbane and Andy Farrell’s decision was rewarded with the Scotland captain’s best performance on tour.

Recovery from the damaged pectoral muscle that forced him to miss the Six Nations has proved challenging and it is only now that the hard-running, ball-playing midfielder is finding his stride.

A first-half try decorated his evening’s work at Suncorp Stadium, which was made easier by the presence of his Scotland team-mates Finn Russell and Huw Jones.

“It was such a huge occasion but having Finn inside me and Huw outside me made it pretty special. I’m so familiar with those boys,” he said.

“I’ve been rooming with Finn this whole week and being around him made me not overreact to the occasion.

“It felt like we were playing a Scotland game together because we room together back with Scotland.

“His nature helps everyone and calms everyone. Then you add to that that he’s got one of the best skill sets of any 10 in the world and it’s a joy to play with.

“Everyone knows what I think about Huw Jones. It just feels like he’s bigger and faster than everyone.”

The Lions know Australia will throw everything at them at Melbourne Cricket Ground – and intend hitting back hard.

“We expect them to be desperate but not more desperate than us because we’re trying to close out a series next Saturday,” Tuipulotu said.

“We were pretty dominant in the first Test but the good thing for us is that it was nowhere near our best performance.”