‘Got to have it’: Sione Tuipulotu’s Scotland message amid wounded Wallabies warning
Skipper wants another crack at Southern Hemisphere heavyweight
Sione Tuipulotu has urged his Scotland team-mates to get their Nations Championship campaign back on track by beating a “wounded” Wallabies team at Murrayfield on Sunday.
Gregor Townsend’s side slipped from second to fourth in the Northern Hemisphere table on the back of last weekend’s home defeat by New Zealand.
France’s dramatic win over South Africa on Friday night strengthened their grip at the top of the standings and means the French are 10 points clear of Scotland and all but uncatchable.
But wins over Australia on Sunday and Japan next Saturday would put the Scots in the mix for a top-three finish and a crack at one of the Southern Hemisphere giants at Twickenham on Finals Weekend.
“For us, it’s a got-to-have-it game,” said Tuipulotu. “That’s the mood in the camp. It’s such a different feeling around the place when you’ve either won or lost. We know we need to win this game. We want to get that positive feeling back around the camp again.
“We want to get our Nations Championship back on track again and give ourselves a big game going into that finals weekend.”
Scotland played well below their best in last week’s 43-21 loss to the All Blacks. They matched the visitors for much of the first half and went in at the break 24-21 behind but failed to score a point in the second half.
Australia endured a similarly sobering day against England, losing 45-22 at Twickenham, and Tuipulotu expects to see a reaction from Les Kiss’ team.
“It is always hard to watch the footage back after a defeat like that where we missed some big opportunities and let ourselves down in certain areas,” the Scotland captain said.
“As a group, we have confronted that and I’ve been very proud of the boys in terms of how they have rallied this week.
“We know that Australia will also be a wounded team coming here after what happened against England at Twickenham.”
‘Australia bounced back with real vigour’
Tuipulotu’s last encounter with the Wallabies was on the British and Irish Lions tour in 2025 when he scored the opening try in the first Test win in Brisbane. The Aussies came roaring back in the next two Tests and, although the Lions won the series 2-1, Tuipulotu expects a similar reaction at Murrayfield.
“Australia bounced back into the second and third Tests with real vigour,” said the centre. “I can only imagine what’s been going on in their meetings this week. It’s similar to ourselves in terms of wanting to get back out there and give a better account of yourself.
“I am certainly not expecting them to come here and just lay down. Not at all. I am expecting their performance to be much-improved, but I’d like to say the same for us as well.
“Having watched some footage of them in more depth this week, I don’t think I would necessarily say we are similar teams.
“Maybe around the inconsistencies, I suppose. They have had big wins against South Africa and obviously they play the All Blacks as well, but are maybe just searching for more consistency. But I’m not sure I would say we are similar teams in terms of style.”
Scotland have made two changes to their starting team, with Blair Kinghorn replacing Kyle Rowe at full-back and Darcy Graham coming in for the benched Jamie Dobie on the left wing. Ollie Leatherbarrow, the Newcastle Red Bulls back-row forward, is named on the bench and could make his Scotland debut.
Scotland v Australia teams for Murrayfield Nations Championship clash
Scotland v Australia, Nations Championship, Murrayfield, Sunday, 3.10pm
Scotland: 15 Blair Kinghorn; 14 Kyle Steyn, 13 Huw Jones, 12 Sione Tuipulotu (capt),11 Darcy Graham; 10 Finn Russell, 9 Ben White; 1 Rory Sutherland, 2 Ewan Ashman, 3 Zander Fagerson, 4 Gregor Brown, 5 Scott Cummings, 6 Matt Fagerson, 7 Rory Darge, 8 Jack Dempsey. Replacements: 16 Gregor Hiddleston, 17 Pierre Schoeman, 18 Will Hurd, 19 Max Williamson, 20 Josh Bayliss, 21 Ollie Leatherbarrow, 22 Jamie Dobie, 23 Tom Jordan.
Australia: 15 Tom Wright; 14 Max Jorgensen, 13 Joseph-Aukuso Suaalii, 12 Len Ikitau, 11 Harry Potter; 10 Carter Gordon, 9 Ryan Lonergan; 1 Angus Bell, 2 Billy Pollard, 3 Allan Alaalatoa, 4 Josh Canham, 5 Jeremy Williams, 6 Rob Valetini, 7 Fraser McReight, 8 Harry Wilson (capt). Replacements: 16 Brandon Paenga-Amosa, 17 Isaac Kailea, 18 Taniela Tupou, 19 Lachlan Shaw, 20 Tom Hooper, 21 Tate McDermott, 22 Ben Donaldson, 23 Filipo Daugunu.
Referee: James Doleman (NZ).
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