Hard work pays dividends for Tuipulotu

One year on from arriving in Scotland after agreeing to join Franco Smith’s squad, the 22-year-old will start this weekend’s pre-season opener at Kingston Park for his first taste of action as part of the men in black.

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As the man himself explains, it’s been a long road back to full fitness since putting pen to paper with the Scotstoun outfit.

“I came over just about twelve months ago to the day actually, and I came over with an injury,” Tuipulotu told glasgowwarriors.org.

“It was my patellar tendon, which I’ve been battling with pretty much for the full year.

“I’ve managed to get myself back fully fit for the start of pre-season, and I’ve been loving it.”

As with any injury, most of the work often goes unseen by the Warrior Nation, with Tuipulotu working closely with the squad’s physios and strength and conditioning teams in order to put himself in the best possible position.

Whilst a debut during his first year at Scotstoun ultimately eluded him, the hooker is more than ready to make up for lost time.

“It’s been a bit of a frustrating journey really,” he said.

“I was expecting to be back a little bit earlier than now, but we’ve been taking the long route and making sure my knee was fully good to go.

“I’m feeling fit, I’m feeling the strongest I’ve ever been, so I’m ready to hit the road running this season.”

All roads lead to Newcastle this weekend for Tuipulotu and his squad-mates, as a pre-season campaign that started at West of Scotland RFC in gruelling fashion reaches its latest milestone on Tyneside tomorrow evening.

A predominantly youthful squad will run out to take on the Red Bulls, and it’s a group that Tuipulotu believes will only benefit from their time together to date.

“Pre-season is pretty much as we’ve expected it to be – it’s been tough!” he said.

“The boys have gotten around each other though, and we’ve built a really strong foundation to hit the ground running for the year ahead.

“It’s been good for this group of young boys, plus some experienced heads, to be in the building together without the internationals. We’ve been able to build a lot of relationships through hard work, and it’s been really good so far.”