Scotland captain Sione Tuipulotu up for selection as Glasgow Warriors say goodbye to the 'car park'

Sione Tuipulotu is back available for selection for Glasgow Warriors’ first home game of the season against Ulster on Saturday when the club will play on their new artificial turf at Scotstoun for the first time.

The Scotland captain was not involved in last week’s United Rugby Championship opener as Franco Smith’s side beat Munster in Limerick, with the centre being given more time to recover from his summer exertions with the national team.

Scott Forrest, the Glasgow assistant coach, said that while Tuipulotu was being considered for this weekend, he would be managed carefully along with all the other Scotland players in the Warriors squad, with one eye on next year’s Rugby World Cup.

Sione Tuipulotu during a Glasgow Warriors training session at Scotstoun Stadium, on September 29, 2026. | SNS Group

“Sione’s up for selection,” confirmed Forrest. “That was a selection [decision] last week; he wasn’t injured.

“This is a big season that’s going to lead into a World Cup next October, so there’s a big piece here where all of our Scotland players are going to get managed at points. We know how important this block is for us, but then it’s going to lead into the Nations Championship again, where Sione’s going to play a lot as well.”

‘It’s tough, no point in shying away from it’

Tuipulotu led Scotland in the summer in the first phase of the Nations Championship, playing the full 80 minutes in the away games against Argentina and South Africa. He also came on as a replacement in the match against Fiji at Murrayfield.

Scotland will play a further four Nations Championship Tests in November, with New Zealand, Australia and Japan all due to visit Edinburgh on consecutive weekends. There will then be a play-off match at Twickenham.

Forrest admitted the new tournament puts added pressure on the Warriors who supply the bulk of the players to Gregor Townsend’s squad.

“It’s tough,” said Forrest. “I think there’s no point in shying away from that when you’ve got 20, potentially 20-plus, players who have to perform here and perform for Scotland in such an important year.

“Even the autumn games are completely different now that it’s the Nations Championship. All those fixtures mean something. There’s a finals weekend off the back of it. You look historically at where we’ve maybe played a Portugal or a Tonga in that window and Scotland can rotate. That now changes things.

Alignment between Franco and Gregor

“Then, obviously, there’s an eye on the World Cup. Yes, it’s tough, but I think that’s where Nigel [Carolan, Glasgow’s attack coach] spoke last week about how important the alignment is between Franco and Gregor around those players who are going to be important for both environments.”

Glasgow still have a lengthy injury list, with the likes of Zander Fagerson, Kyle Steyn and new signing Jamie Ritchie all unavailable. Forrest is hopeful they will all have some game-time before Scotland’s first Nations Championship match, against the All Blacks on November 7.

Assistant coach Scott Forrest, left, and head coach Franco Smith get a feel for Glasgow Warriors' new playing surface at Scotstoun Stadium. | SNS Group

This weekend’s game against Ulster has added significance because it is the first to be played on Scotsoun’s new pitch. The old one, which was ripped up after the Commonwealth Games, was well worn and not well liked by opposition teams.

Farewell to the ‘car park’

The Warriors, by contrast, enjoyed the hard surface and nicknamed it ‘the car park’. The players trained on the replacement for the first time this week and it is taking a bit of getting used to.

“Yesterday [Monday] was the first time we trained on it, so, yes, it’s different,” said Forrest. “It’s not quite the same feeling as the car park was. It’s definitely softer, but it’s a little different.

“I think it’ll be a little bit better for the boys’ bodies, just being that little bit more forgiving in terms of the surface. We’ll train on it fully this week. The forwards just scrummed on it there, and it’s definitely different to what the previous one was, but not bad, just different. I think they’re saying it’ll just take a bit of getting used to.”