Lion's omission: 'I’ll be blatantly honest, I thought it was over for me'

Emotional Scotland captain Sione Tuipulotu welled up in tears as he admitted he feared injury had wrecked his chances of British and Irish Lions selection.

The centre was one of eight Scotland players – and four from Glasgow Warriors – included in Andy Farrell’s 38-man squad for the summer tour of Australia.

Melbourne-born Tuipulotu was selected despite being sidelined since suffering a pectoral injury in January.

“When I got hurt, that’s all that came into my mind, is that I wouldn’t be able to play for Scotland in the Six Nations when I’d just been named skipper, and it felt like I let the country down a little bit,” said Tuipulotu speaking at Scotstoun after watching the squad announcement with his Glasgow team-mates.

“And then you add in the fact that it was a Lions year, and I’ll be blatantly honest, I thought it was over for me. But there were people in my corner, the Scotland coaches and stuff like that, they always told me to stay calm and trust the work that I’ve put in. I took a bit of that advice, but I was worried.

“It was a natural reaction to be so worried when you can’t be out there influencing the situation. But hearing your name, you get the relief and also the reassurance of what you’ve done already. Now it’s just about coming back and proving I’m a better player than when I got hurt.”

Tuipulotu temporarily stopped to compose himself as his emotions got the better of him while discussing the thrill of being called up for a Lions tour in his homeland.

“When the Lions came up four years ago, when I moved over here (to Glasgow in 2021), I would never have thought of it but this year I put so much into it, I wanted to be a Lion so bad,” said the 28-year-old.

“It’s not just this year’s work, it feels like a lifetime of work for me. Ever since I was 12, since I started playing footy all the way up to this point, this is the pinnacle. So to hear my name, my family name, get called, it’s such an honour.

“To think of my family in the stands, wearing Lions jerseys and stuff like that, that’s amazing. I can’t wait to head home (to Australia) with this group and try and achieve something real special. Oh man, I’m so excited.”

Tuipulotu has recovered from injury and is set to play for Glasgow in the coming weeks.

“There’s not much work to be done anymore,” he said. “I feel like I’ve done it all, it’s just about timing now. It’s been three and a half months, it’s about making the right decision about when is right in terms of returning.”

Tuipulotu was joined in the Lions squad by club-mates Huw Jones, Zander Fagerson and Scott Cummings, as well as international colleagues Finn Russell, Blair Kinghorn, Duhan van der Merwe and Pierre Schoeman.

Second-rower Cummings was an under-the-radar selection after making just one sub appearance for Glasgow since suffering a forearm injury in January.

“I was trying not to get my hopes up obviously with the fact that I haven’t played too much,” said the 28-year-old.

“I’d obviously been playing for Scotland for a couple of years, but when you miss the whole Six Nations, you don’t know whether the coaches remember what you’ve done before or if they’re picking on form, which, obviously, I don’t technically have much of because I haven’t been playing.

“You don’t know if you’re going to fit what the coach wants out of players as well so when the injury happened, I didn’t know if that sort of killed my chances. Thankfully, I heard my name got called out. It’s difficult to comprehend, I’m still buzzing.”