Tuipulotu, though, is not one to moan, the Scotland captain preferring to see the workload as him just doing his job – Roy Keane would surely approve – especially with the prospect of a second URC title still dangling tantalisingly in front of him.
“It’s hard to say what impact that [fatigue] had on the games and stuff like that just because we’ve been doing that every year,” he said. “I know we haven’t done that in Europe, or maybe not with as much hope or expectation as this year, but I think it has been a big year, especially coming off a [British and Irish] Lions year as well. Just the way the year has played out, there’s been a lot of rugby but I suppose that’s what I get paid to do – play a lot of rugby. I think the emotional rollercoaster of the Six Nations, probably subconsciously, has its effects but it does on everyone as well.
“Leinster have a big cohort of boys there, they probably have a bigger squad, so they can manage boys a little bit differently. We’re just in the situation we’re in at the club at the moment with numbers and stuff like that but Franco’s doing the best that he can to manage the players when he can. Probably the biggest thing with the Six Nations is not necessarily the boys that HAVEN’T got hurt, it’s the boys that HAVE got hurt during that Six Nations period that probably have hindered us a little bit.
“I don’t know [if they need to look at player welfare in more detail] that’s not my job to do. I want to keep putting up my hand for the club, that’s my job, that’s what I get paid to do. I’m not short of any motivation and my body’s in a good place so I’m just looking to finish this season strong. No other team has won the URC twice so that’s another motivation for us, and we’ve just got six weeks now to build a couple more memories before the boys take off.”
When Tuipulotu signed his long-term contract tying him at Glasgow until 2028, he probably couldn’t have envisioned the volume of talent drain out of the club in the subsequent summers. Losing players of the calibre of Jack Dempsey, Huw Jones, Adam Hastings, Sione Vailanu and others will surely weaken Warriors in the seasons ahead but Tuipulotu insists he has had no cause to speak to the club’s hierarchy about their ambition moving forward. Instead, he insists he continues to place his trust in Smith to rebuild again as he points to this year’s success on the back of a similar exodus last summer of players like Tom Jordan, Henco Venter and Sebastian Cancelliere.
“I haven’t [spoken to management about the clubs’ plans] as I just have to focus on myself. But you’re right – some of those big players like Demmo and Shug have played big roles in our success over the past couple of years. But ultimately they’re probably getting to a stage in their career where they deserve to go out. And whether it’s to earn more money, which is the obvious one, or get a new environment for their family, like probably Shug…they all deserve those opportunities.
“We’ve got short careers and my situation, when I re-signed, was probably a lot different to theirs. I was a different age, probably a different stage of my career, I was just becoming [Scotland] captain. So there are differences. I can’t really relate to them but I’m just really happy for them.
“And I still believe in Franco and his plan to see forward. I thought when we lost TJ, Seba and Henco that maybe we were going to struggle [this year]. And if anything we’ve had a better season. We won all our European [pool] games and we’re in a better position now on the ladder than we were last year. It hard to know what the future holds. All I can say is that’s not up to me. I just trust Franco in these moments. He’s been talking about just building in front of your own house, that’s what he talks about. He says, ‘don’t worry about what’s ahead, just build in front of your own house’. That’s going to be my focus for the next six weeks, just build what’s in front of my house, and hopefully at the end of the season something nice is out in front of my house.”
Sione is, of course, not the only Tuipulotu on the books at Glasgow. Little brother Tavi is yet to be spotted in a Warriors shirt after signing last summer then sustaining up a serious knee injury. But the hooker is finally on the way back.
“It’s been a really tough year for Tavi. I’m so proud of him because he’s stronger than I was mentally at his age. And I think just his experiences in life has probably done that for him. He’s back in training now with us, had his first session last week, and he’s training fully this week. So, I’m really happy for him. Same as Mosese. Mosese came back [for Edinburgh] and probably to his own standard felt like he started slowly. But that’s what happens when you’re out for a whole year.
“I can’t relate to them with long injuries like that because I’ve been quite blessed in my career. So that’s why I look at the ‘lots of rugby’ as a bit of a perspective thing. They’d love to have been playing lots of rugby. It’s been a tough year for both of my brothers but hopefully it puts them in good stead for next season. And, who knows, things can happen quickly….”