Sione Tuipulotu's 'full circle' moment against the Wallabies

Sione Tuipulotu’s granny Jaqueline was left the proudest Scot after presenting the match trophy to her Melburnian grandson following the Wallabies defeat.

“We got ’em!…”

With those three little words to her Australian grandson Sione Tuipulotu, 77-year-old long-standing Melburnian Jaqueline Thomson proved you can take the wee granny out of Glasgow, but you can’t take Glasgow out of the wee granny.

The old lady was flown back 17,000km from Melbourne to Murrayfield to watch the lad she helped bring up in Australia defeat the nation he grew up wanting to play for … och, what a tale!

And one with a happy ending as she handed over the Hopetoun Cup to Scotland captain Sione after watching him score a barnstorming try in their 27-13 defeat of the Wallabies on Sunday.

“She whispered in my ear, ‘we got ’em!” revealed Tuipulotu, when asked what Jaqueline had said on handing him the trophy.

“Super special. I don’t really score many tries. Not for Glasgow, not for Scotland, but that one was pretty special while my gran was here and knowing how much she also wanted to beat Australia!”

Jaqueline may have lived in Melbourne most of her life but with Glaswegian brogue still intact, could there have been a happier face at Murrayfield than when she appeared on the big screen to cheers all round.

“It does feel weird (seeing her on screen),” admitted Tuipulotu, voice quivering.

“But I feel really blessed this is all happening. And not just for me. Before the match, I was a little bit emotional about the fact her life’s just gone full circle.

“That she’s back here watching me play for and captain Scotland. I’m just happy that she gets to have that moment.

“She moved over to Australia as a young girl and raised my mum with limited stuff. And now she gets to enjoy this, gets to sit in the stand, and get some recognition. It makes me so happy.”

And beating Australia? Tuipulotu wanted it as bad as gran.

The former Australia under-20 centre was magnificent, looking every inch the Wallaby who’d bounded away.

His slick, incisive running and distribution caused Australia problems all afternoon, and he barrelled over for a try from a long line-out, catching the Wallabies criminally napping.

His feistiness, too, set the Scottish tone, not least when he got sent crashing by a Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii hit, and rose to offer a few choice words for his assailant, who actually came off worse with an injured arm that forced him out the match.

“I didn’t really know it was him that hit me. It felt humungous. And when I popped up, I was looking around at who it was and saw he was on the ground, so I said something to him and then he went off.”

So what did you say, Sione?

“I said, ‘I hope you’re okay’,” responded Tuipulotu, perfectly deadpan.

“I talk a lot during every game. When you play your mates, you want to beat them. There was a bit of stick out there, but it makes the game a lot more fun for me anyways.”

It’s clear where he gets his feistiness from. Asked tongue-in-cheek if gran might get a hot reception on return to Australia, he grinned: “Er, I don’t think she’ll mind!”