Toulon wary of Glasgow Warriors' key man Sione Tuipulotu as Aussie mate plans to keep 'watchful' eye

They played together for Australia Under-20s but Duncan Paia’aua and Sione Tuipulotu will be on opposite sides when Toulon and Glasgow Warriors meet in the final of the European Challenge Cup on Friday.

Duncan Paia'aua of RC Toulon is tackled by Matteo Minozzi and Tomas Albornoz of Benetton Rugby during the EPCR Challenge Cup Semi-Final match between RC Toulon and Benetton Rugby at Felix Mayol Stadium on April 30, 2023 in Toulon, France.

The pair are good friends and Paia’aua is wary of the threat posed by his old centre partner who has flourished in his second season at Scotstoun. Tuipulotu swapped the junior Wallabies for full Scotland honours, making the switch courtesy of his grandmother from Greenock, while Paia’aua is now a full Samoa international and, like Tuipulotu, has his sights set on this autumn’s Rugby World Cup.

“I’m good mates with Sione. He’s done very well since he came to Scotland,” said the Toulon midfielder. “Obviously the Glasgow centres are going to be very interesting to play against, they are really good players and have a good understanding. With Sione, I played Australia uinder-20s with him, I was playing 12 and he played 13, so we played a couple of games together, and then we crossed paths a bit in Super Rugby, so he’s come a long way from Australia and he’s done very well for himself. Glasgow are strong in midfield. I feel that’s probably where their main attack comes from. Sione is a running threat, a passing threat, and also a kicking threat. We need to keep a watchful eye on him.”

The same could be said of Glasgow and Paia’aua, who scored Toulon’s opening try in their 23-0 semi-final win over Benetton, his ninth in 18 starts this season. This will be his third crack at a Challenge Cup final. He was part of the Toulon side which lost to Bristol in 2020 and Lyon in 2022. Paia’aua felt the team were jaded going into last season's final. It’s different this season. Toulon fielded a shadow side in their league match against Racing 92 last weekend and were thrashed 43-7 and while it all but ended their hopes of making the Top 14 play-offs it has kept their big guns fresh for Dublin.

“We know that Glasgow are going to be very fit, but we’ve got some bigger bodies across the team so I think we are going to try to use that physicality against them,” said Paia’aua. “Last year was very tough because I think we were worn down a bit. We were fighting to get in the top six [of the French league] and we played our players every week, so most of us had played about 12 games on the trot then we went into that final a bit under strength – maybe a bit burnt out. The coaches have managed us pretty well the last couple of weeks, they’ve played a few other boys, but hopefully we’re going to get our big team out this week and be firing for this grand final.”

They don’t come much bigger than Toulon’s second-row Brian Alainu’uese who joined the French club in 2018 after a spell with Glasgow. Injuries hampered the 6ft 7.5in 21st 4lb lock’s time at Scotstoun but he met his future wife in Glasgow and he and Victoria will get married in the summer. “It’s a big game for him. Glasgow is his old club and also the place where he met his wife-to-be,” added Paia’aua. “Brian is Toulon through and through now, so he’ll be desperate to put in a big performance.”