No big talk from Scotland in South Africa, just quiet confidence
World Cup 2026
In a modern sporting world in which many athletes have become accomplished at speaking a lot while saying very little, Sione Tuipulotu is a wonderful exception to the rule.
The Scotland captain is rarely anything other than engaging, insightful and brutally honest.
Yet as he prepares his men to take on world champions South Africa in Pretoria on Saturday in the Nations Championship, Tuipulotu is refusing to feed the beast when it comes to expectations of a famous upset victory over the Springboks.
Match Details
“I’d like to think maybe our confidence is a little bit more quiet, to keep it in the changing room,” said the Glasgow centre.
“There’s no point about talking about anything like that before the game, because you’ve got to go out there and play the world champions in their backyard.
“Maybe this is a little bit of me gaining experience over the last two, three years, it’s better to just leave it to Saturday.
Tournament Impact
“Of course I’m confident in my group. I’d be stupid as a captain to sit up here and say, ‘I’m not confident in my group and we’re going to go there and lose’ before the game. That’s stupid, you know?
“So of course I’m confident in my group, but we’ll focus on ourselves. We know the challenge at hand and we’re just really excited for it, genuinely.”
In the aftermath of Scotland’s grim collapse against Argentina at Murrayfield last November, Tuipulotu was in unusually combative form with the media, saying he would no longer be making public pronouncements of his team’s ambitions, only to have them thrown back at him when they fail to deliver.
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