Nov 22,2024
Mosese Tuipulotu revealed he and brother Sione were taken by complete surprise after their Greenock-born grandmother made a secret journey from Australia to Edinburgh to watch them represent Scotland this weekend.
Scottish Rugby released a video on Wednesday afternoon showing the emotional moment the siblings – who thought they were going to meet a fan – walked into the dressing-room at Murrayfield on Tuesday to find 77-year-old Jacqueline Thomson, who had been flown over.
Jacqueline, who left Scotland when she was a child, is the reason both players are eligible for the national team.
She will watch Edinburgh centre Mosese, who has been part of Gregor Townsend’s squad for the first time this month, play for Scotland 'A' against Chile at Hive Stadium before attending nearby Murrayfield the following day to watch Glasgow centre Sione captain the Scots in their final Autumn Test against Australia.
"It was awesome actually," said Mosese, who left Australia in the summer to sign for Edinburgh. "It was a massive surprise just because me and my brother didn’t know anything about it.
"They did pretty well to keep it under wraps but it was a pretty emotional one also just because when I left back home to say goodbye and move over here for rugby, you never quite know when you’re going to see your family again, just based off our rugby years.
"It was a very special moment to see my gran again. And I’m sure it’ll be more special for my brother just because he hadn’t seen her in such a long time (four years). Obviously he did that stint in Japan before (moving to Glasgow in 2021) so it was really special."
The Tuipulotu siblings did not believe their gran would ever be able to watch them play in Scotland given her age and health.
Mosese, 23, admitted her presence for this weekend’s matches has merely added to the emotion of an autumn campaign in which he earned his first national team call-up and his 27-year-old brother was appointed captain.
"She’s kind of gone a full circle," said Mosese. "She left here as a young girl and now she’s back here where she grew up and being able to watch both her boys pulling on a Scotland jersey, so it’ll be cool for her, I’m sure.
"She’s always been a big, big influence in our life growing up. She’s always been around, sometimes when our parents weren’t around, she’d take care of us. She’s a great woman with plenty of character so we love her.
"She’s super excited to be in the stands. It’ll be her first time watching us play for Scotland, but the first time watching Sione in a while, probably since school, so it’ll be special for her."
Mosese has not featured in any of the three Tests so far and will not play against Australia either but he has enjoyed being in camp and is relishing his first chance to wear the dark blue in Saturday’s second-string fixture against Chile as he bids to bolster his chances of a recall for the Six Nations.
"I’m trying not to put any more pressure on myself," he said. "I know that if I just play my game, hopefully things will work out. But it’s obviously a step up from playing club (rugby). I’ve only played five games for Edinburgh, so I know this will be a step up."
Meanwhile, giant lock Will Skelton believes Scotland will prove Australia's toughest test yet as they continue their bid for a Grand Slam.
The Wallabies are on course to emulate the 1984 Australia team who swept past the four teams from Britain and Ireland, but after beating England and Wales they must overcome Scotland on Sunday and Ireland next week if they are to match the feat of 40 years ago.
Wins at Twickenham and Cardiff have sparked a revival after Australia finished bottom of the Rugby Championship standings in September with five losses from six matches.
"I've been with the group like two and a half weeks now and we're showing how connected we are, we've got a good buzz in the group and we're really focused on this week and excited about the challenge to play Scotland," Skelton said.
"We were always building, when you have losses, there's lessons to learn and this group is strong enough and is led well enough to get out of those holes," he added.
"The test against Scotland is going to be the hardest one yet so we're excited about this week and we're looking forward to ripping in."
Additional reporting: Reuters
