Getting to Know: England U20s hooker Kepu Tuipulotu
The journey starts all over again for Mark Mapletoft’s England U20s this Thursday in Cork when a team featuring Bath’s Kepu Tuipulotu take on Ireland in the opening round of the age-grade Six Nations.
The English were immense last year, snatching springtime glory with an unbeaten campaign that culminated in an epic away win in France.
They then went to South Africa and became World Rugby U20 Championship champions when defeating the French in the Cape Town final. This was an adventure colourfully captured by Embedded, the behind the scenes RugbyPass TV documentary on Mapletoft’s squad.
The southern hemisphere success was an immediate career catapult for numerous players. Asher Opoku-Fordjour made his England Test debut in November, Henry Pollock joined him in the Six Nations senior squad last week in Girona before checking back in with Mapletoft’s class of 2025, and plenty others have enjoyed exposure with their Gallagher Premiership clubs.
England squad newcomer Tuipulotu has already made his Bath first-team debut, featuring in three Premiership Rugby Cup games in November before playing off the December bench at Benetton in the Investec Champions Cup and then as a sub in the January Premiership fixture at Northampton.
Ahead of facing the Irish in the U20s opener, the son of ex-Dragons centre Sione and younger brother of Wales women’s international Sisilia tackled the RugbyPass Getting to Know Q&A:
THE BASICS
Born: September 2, 2005
First England call: Against France U18s, warm-up game before Six Nations 2023
Club: Bath
Position: Hooker
Height: 180cms
Weight: 116kgs
Boots: Adidas RS15s
Gumshield: Opro
Headgear: No
School: Harrow
RATE YOURSELF (out of 100)
Throwing: 75
Scrummaging: 70
Tackling: 85
THE PAST
My favourite England player of all time is… That’s a hard one. Probably go Jonny Wilkinson for his iconic moment in the World Cup
Favourite try I have ever scored is… In the quarter-final for Harrow in the Nat-West Cup. I scored off the back of a lineout to give us the lead in a game we won
A rugby memory that makes me smile is… Just playing touch rugby at family gatherings. Just me and my cousins, all various ages. You’d just mark the pitch out with some shoes, split it down the middle and off you go
The moment I realised I could make it is… Probably my first year at Harrow when I joined the development programme for London Irish and worked my way into the U16s academy. That’s when I kind of knew I could pursue this as a future
One piece of advice I would give to my younger self is… Just work on my basics, keep working on my fundamentals. Like, you can never be too good at the basics of the game
My best subject in school was… Business
The first player who made me fall in love with rugby is… Carlos Spencer
Growing up, my position was… Started off in the centres because my old man spent the majority of his time playing there. I just wanted be like dad, so I slotted myself in there. I went to hooker in my second year in Harrow, slotted into the front row
The coach who has most impacted my game is… Mr James Melville at Harrow, director of rugby.
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THE PRESENT
My favourite current England player is… Theo Dan. I see a resemblance of me in him
My favourite YouTuber is… Sidemen
My hardest working teammate is… In camp, George Timmins
My most skilful teammate is… Ollie Davies
My favourite training drill is… Lineout reps
My favourite music artist is… Ariana Grande
My favourite sports team is… Manchester United
Ready to defend our @SixNationsU20 crown ?
England U20 Men's head coach Mark Mapletoft has named his 23-player squad for Thursday's opening match against Ireland.@Honda_UK
— England Rugby (@EnglandRugby) January 27, 2025
THE FUTURE
If I could play with anyone, I would like to play with… Probably (Antoine) Dupont at the minute, he is running the game. Playing with him would be pretty sick
I will be happy with my career if I… To get the highest level I possibly can, representing my nation or British and Irish Lions. That is probably my aim
If I could play in any other country, I would play in… New Zealand
One thing I want to add to my game is… More scrummaging prowess
One person I want to meet is… Beyonce
One trophy I would love to win is… The World Cup
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Poor kid.
Tricky question. I would have answered that very differently.
So if he wants to play with AD - does that mean he wants to play for France too?
Poor kid.
Born in Pontypool Wales.....
went to primary school in Buckinghamshire and went to high school in London. Currently plays for Bath.