British & Irish Lions

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Melbourne-born Scotland captain Sione Tuipulotu is relishing the pressure of proving his international allegiance for the British and Irish Lions.

Amid ongoing debate about the selection of foreign-born players, the Glasgow centre is set to line up against his native Australia during this summer's Lions tour.

Tuipulotu, who made his Scotland debut in 2021, is among seven members of Andy Farrell's 38-man Lions squad who hail from overseas.

While five of those players are eligible for their adopted nations purely on residency rules, Tuipulotu qualified through ancestry.

The 28-year-old's Greenock-born grandmother was at Murrayfield last autumn to see him score a try while leading Scotland to a 27-13 defeat of the Wallabies.

"I put so much on myself that I really wanted to be a Lion because I know how much it means to people over here," said Tuipulotu, who initially feared his tour participation may be ruined by injury.

"I had gone all in with the stuff with Scotland and I just felt what better way to prove my allegiance to Scotland than go all in and try and make the Lions. That's why it meant so much to me.

"Genuinely early days you have that feeling of 'Am I part of this?'. I always feel like talking about it is one thing but showing people how much it means to you in how you play (is another).

"When my gran came over before the Australia game, it allowed the public to put a face to the story and listen to my grandma and how much it meant to her. I think that gave eyes to the public that my story was authentic.

"I'm all in and I'm looking forward to showing how committed I am to playing for the Lions."

Tuipulotu is raring to go after returning from four months out with a pectoral issue during Glasgow's 13-5 defeat to Leinster on Saturday.

"I've been nothing but embraced by the Scottish public ever since I started playing for Scotland," said Tuipulotu, who has 30 caps.

"There's always going to be a couple of people (who criticise), like there are for some of the Irish boys, but I take that in my stride because I don't blame those people either.

"I didn't grow up dreaming of playing for Scotland or the Lions, that's the truth.

"But this is where my path has led me and I'm all in for this Lions team and for Scotland and for Glasgow, and I genuinely feel like this is where I'm supposed to be."

Andy Burke
BBC Sport Scotland Senior Reporter

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Huw Jones says it's "a special feeling" to be selected for the British and Irish Lions after fearing at one stage his international career was over.

After a blistering start to his Scotland career that saw him score 10 tries in his first 14 Tests, the centre's form deserted him and he missed out on selection for the 2019 Rugby World Cup.

Jones has since re-established himself as one of the world's finest midfielders, won a URC title with Glasgow Warriors and is one of eight Scots heading to Australia this summer with the Lions.

"It's been a bit of a journey, my career," Jones, 31, told BBC Scotland.

"At one point, I thought my international career was over. To get to this point, even to turn that around and get back into the Scotland squad was massive for me.

"Over the last couple of years, to play well here and play well with Scotland and ultimately get this call, it's just huge. I guess all the hard work did pay off.

"It feels amazing knowing where I've been and the ups and downs I've had in my career to get to this point.

"I think a lot of it is just relief that the wait is over and relief to hear your name called after all the work."

Andy Burke
BBC Sport Scotland Senior Reporter

Image source, SNS

Scott Cummings admits he feared his chance of selection for the British and Irish Lions had gone when injury struck before the Six Nations.

The Scotland lock missed the entire tournament after suffering an arm fracture in Glasgow's Champions Cup meeting with Harlequins in January.

That left the 28-year-old in a race against time to be fit for the Lions but he made his return for Warriors off the bench two weeks ago in the URC defeat to Bulls and was one of eight Scots named in Andy Farrell's 38-man squad for the tour to Australia.

"Injuries happen, there's nothing you can do about it," Cummings told BBC Scotland.

"I was just trying my best to get back fit as quickly as I could. I had a couple of setbacks and injuries so it ended up taking me a bit longer than I'd hoped.

"I did think that might have been any chance of me getting on the tour gone, but thankfully I got back to fitness in time.

"I believe it's the pinnacle of the sport for us. It's something that brings countries together. You go on this special tour and I've got great memories of getting up early and watching the 2013 tour in Australia when I was still school.

"These are moments that you dream of as a kid but you never know if you're going to make it there. To achieve that has been something special."