Sione Tuipulotu insisted he will cast aside any emotional attachment to Tonga as he bids to help Scotland get their World Cup campaign off the ground in Nice on Sunday.
The Australia-born centre’s father Fohe is Tongan and the 26-year-old admits he has a “lot of love” for a nation that represents part of his heritage.
However, Tuipulotu is hell-bent on ensuring the Scots put the Pacific islanders to the sword as they look to keep alive their hopes of progressing to the quarter-finals.
“It’s probably a tricky one,” he smiled when asked on Saturday about how he feels going up against his dad’s country. “No matter how much you try not to think about it, it’s always kind of there in the back of your mind.
“But I’m fully focused on getting the victory for Scotland tomorrow. I’m sure it’ll be emotional during the anthems and stuff.
“Of course, I’ve got a lot of love for Tonga, and that side of my heritage. But tomorrow I’m fully focused on doing my best to get a win for Scotland, and get our World Cup back on the road.”
Fohe will be watching on television from Australia as his son bids to get the better of his home country at the biggest tournament in rugby.
“My dad’s with my little brother at home, he can’t leave him by himself,” said Tuipulotu. “Mum’s over here. But my Dad will wake up and watch it, so I’ll wait for his message after the game.
“I know he’s got both (Scotland and Tonga) jerseys in the house. I’ll have to ask my little brother which one he’s got on (on Sunday). I’m sure he’ll be going for (supporting) us though.”
Tuipulotu was overwhelmed with emotion when he spoke a fortnight ago about his mother Angelina travelling from Australia to watch him play for Scotland for the first time against South Africa in Marseille.
He explained on the eve of the Tonga game how she helped lift his spirits after the 18-3 defeat by the Boks.
“It was actually quite good because my mum doesn’t know anything about rugby so she thought we all played really well,” he laughed.
“I kind of knew we didn’t but when I saw her after the game and she said ‘Oh, you guys all played so well’, it was refreshing and picked me up for that 20 minutes but then I was back to ground zero when we got on the bus.
“It was nice to see my mum after that. That’s the best thing about mums, they pick you up when you are feeling down.
“To be honest, I was really disappointed after the South Africa game. It took me a couple of days, probably took me a week to get over.
“But we’re over that now. We’ve done our reviews and we’re fully focused now on getting back into Tonga. It’s the perfect game for us to try and enforce our game on to them.”
The Scots must win all three of their remaining matches if they are to have a chance of qualifying for the knockout phase, but Tuipulotu is adamant there is no additional pressure on the players as a result of having no margin for error.
“I think all the games just kind of pose their own bits of pressure,” he said. “It’s a World Cup, every game poses that bit of pressure.
“There are no easy games in the World Cup, so this game’s the same for us as it was for South Africa.
“We’ve prepared the same as we did for South Africa and we’re all hoping we can put out a better performance.”
Tuipulotu has forged a formidable centre pairing with club-mate Huw Jones for both Scotland and Glasgow. Their partnership will be broken up this weekend, however, as Jones drops to the bench and Gloucester’s Chris Harris takes over the number 13 jersey.
“I’ve played a lot of rugby with Chris,” said Tuipulotu. “In the early days when I was getting my first couple of caps for Scotland I was playing under his wing, and I’ve learned a lot from Chris both sides of the ball, but particularly defensively.
“When I first came to Scotland, I was a bit of a rogue defender but I learned a lot from Chris.
“He’s always put his arm around me and helped me, and I feel very comfortable with him alongside me. We’re going to out there and have a great performance together.”
England must be 'brave on the ball' to halt winless run, says Borthwick
England head coach Steve Borthwick has demanded his team to be "brave on the ball" when they take on Eddie Jones' Japan in the Autumn Nations Series on Sunday.
Borthwick's side have lost each of their last five matches, their longest such run since another five-game stretch between February and June 2018.
However, they have not lost more in a row since a streak of seven in 2006. Each of the five losses in their current streak have also come in single-digit margins.
But England have also struggled at home. They have fallen to defeat in their last three matches at the Allianz Stadium, their longest losing run since 2008.
Only once before have they lost more in a row at the Twickenham venue (L5 between 1971 and 1973), though Borthwick has urged his players to persist with an attacking style.
"We are trying to play the game a different way," he told BBC Sport.
"I am encouraging the players to be brave with the ball, to move the ball, that’s where the strength of the team now is and where it is going to be in the future."
Borthwick named his 23-man squad to face Japan on Friday, reinstating Tom Curry and Sam Underhill, nicknamed the "Kamikaze Kids" by Jones in 2019.
Curry has been recalled to the team after he was knocked out against Australia, and he replaces Chandler Cunningham-South in the back-row.
In the other change from the starting XV that lost to South Africa, full-back George Furbank comes in for Freddie Steward.
Fin Smith replaces George Ford on England's bench while Cunningham-South steps in for Alex Dombrandt. Sale's Opoku-Fordjour could also make his senior debut.
"We anticipate a tough challenge from a team that thrives on playing fast and with tempo," said Borthwick.
"Japan are a dangerous team, so it’s important that we execute our game plan and maintain focus throughout the full 80 minutes."
England team to face Japan
George Furbank, Tommy Freeman, Ollie Lawrence, Henry Slade, Ollie Sleightholme, Marcus Smith, Jack van Poortvliet, Ellis Genge, Jamie George, Will Stuart, Maro Itoje, George Martin, Tom Curry, Sam Underhill, Ben Earl.
Replacements: Luke Cowan-Dickie, Fin Baxter, Asher Opoku-Fordjour, Nick Isiekwe, Chandler Cunningham-South, Harry Randall, Fin Smith, Tom Roebuck.
Gatland 'still the best coach in the world', says Wales assistant Howley
Wales assistant Rob Howley described Warren Gatland as the "world's best coach" and insists the under-fire boss is going nowhere.
Wales have lost each of their last 11 Test matches, their longest ever run in men’s rugby, overtaking a 10-game stretch between November 2002 and August 2003.
Their most recent defeat came by 32 points (20-52 v Australia), their heaviest loss since a 36-point thrashing at home to South Africa in August last year (16-52).
And it is not going to get any easier with world champions South Africa the visitors to the Principality Stadium on Saturday for Wales' Autumn Nations Series finale.
South Africa have emerged victorious in six of their last seven Tests against Wales (L1) and have also won each of their last three games against Wales by margins of 16+ points.
Another triumph would see Wales going the calendar year without winning a Test, which has not happened since 1937, though Howley has no doubt that Wales are in safe hands.
"We've got the best coach in the world who has had a legacy of more than 13 years," said Howley.
"He's won Grand Slams and there is no better coach to have in your camp than Warren. He gives players the confidence and self-belief they need to go out and play."
During Gatland's first stint in charge from 2008 to 2019, Wales were World Cup semi-finalists, Six Nations champions and Grand Slam winners.
This time around, amid far more challenging circumstances and attempting to mould a new squad, Wales have won just six out of his 23 Tests at the helm.
Wales have also won just one of their last 11 Test matches at the Principality Stadium, last winning in Cardiff against Argentina in November 2023.
Howley was asked if he would take an interim head coach job if Gatland departed, but responded defiantly by saying, "Warren Gatland won't leave".
Howley insists Gatland's experiences can help turn Wales around, saying: "Warren is a hugely respected coach and has coached over a number of years.
"His legacy with different teams is a winning legacy. At the moment, we are in this spell where we are losing.
"We at some point know we will win, and I hope it will be the next game on Saturday. I think at the moment we've got the best coach who has got years of experience.
"We've been in changing rooms where we've won and lost, Lions changing rooms going into the series at 1-1 with everything on the line.
"He understands rugby, and I believe Wales have got the best coach in the world to get us out of this."
Farrell backs 'composed' Prendergast to shine on first Ireland start
Andy Farrell believes Sam Prendergast is ready to step up ahead of his first Ireland start against Fiji at the Aviva Stadium on Saturday.
Farrell has made seven changes to his team, handing first caps to Leinster's Gus McCarthy and Ulster's Cormac Izuchukwu for the penultimate game of the Autumn Nations Series.
The Ireland head coach has handed Prendergast the number 10 jersey for the first time after he was used off the bench in the closing stages of last week's win over Argentina.
Prendergast has only started eight games for Leinster, but Farrell had no hesitation in handing him a first start after he impressed on the Emerging Ireland tour of South Africa.
"I'm confident from what we've seen. We took him on the Emerging [Ireland] and he played in all of those games," said Farrell.
"The aim of that was to grab hold of that team and make sure that he treated it like it was his own, as though he was in charge, and he did that in spades.
"This week we've seen the benefit of that, but we need to see it transfer, obviously.
"Yes, his character is composed, confident but yet not over-confident. He's assertive in what he wants, and he has a nice way about how he goes about his business.”
Farrell also had a glowing review for Izuchukwu, saying: "Izzy has been in and around the squad for a while. The first Emerging Ireland tour was when we first came across his ability, his athleticism, his point of difference.
"That was a couple of years ago but the improvement in his maturity of his game, because he was young in the 15-a-side game when the first tour was on, but the difference between the first and second tour was like chalk and cheese.
"His ability and potential with that maturity, he deserves a shot to show us all what he's got."
On McCarthy, who captained the Ireland Under-20s to a Six Nations Grand Slam in 2023, Farrell said: "He's been a captain and you can see why because his maturity in how he goes about the game."
He added: "We took him on the training week [to Portugal] as a development player and he showed up unbelievably well. He forced our hand to keep him in the squad first and foremost and he deserves a shot to see what he can do as well."
Ciaran Frawley also returns to the bench after missing out last weekend on the back of a poor outing against New Zealand.
And Cian Healy must wait another week for a record-breaking 134th cap - having drawn level with Brian O'Driscoll against Argentina - after the prop was left out of the 23.
Ireland team to play Fiji
Jamie Osborne; Mack Hansen, Robbie Henshaw, Bundee Aki, Jacob Stockdale; Sam Prendergast, Craig Casey; Andrew Porter, Gus McCarthy, Finlay Bealham; Joe McCarthy, Tadhg Beirne; Cormac Izuchukwu, Josh van der Flier, Caelan Doris (capt).
Replacements: Rob Herring, Tom O'Toole, Thomas Clarkson, Iain Henderson, Cian Prendergast, Conor Murray, Ciaran Frawley, Stuart McCloskey.
SportsMax is the Caribbean sports channel of choice, committed to providing sporting content of the highest quality to the Caribbean, delivered by a team of highly innovative, passionate and qualified professionals.
(876) 619-7629
digitalmedia@sportsmax.tv
