'That’s stupid': Scotland captain issues fighting words ahead of Bok clash

SPOTLIGHT: Scotland captain Sione Tuipulotu may have faced the Springboks twice already in his career, but he is under no illusion about the magnitude of Saturday’s Nations Championship clash.

Tuipulotu will lead a strong Scotland side at Loftus Versfeld after head coach Gregor Townsend made just three changes to the team that beat Argentina in Cordoba last week.

It will be the skipper’s first time facing the Boks on African soil, having previously come up against them at the World Cup in 2023 and at Murrayfield in 2024.

Tuipulotu is also familiar with many of the Springbok players through the URC, but believes playing them in South Africa presents an entirely different challenge.

“Playing them away is a little bit of a different beast,” he said.

“I know that from travelling and playing the URC teams away from home.

“They are a different beast when they’re in their own backyard, and get to wake up in their own beds, and play in front of their families.

“I’m experienced enough to know that they’ll be a different beast in front of their own crowd.

“But of course, there’s a familiarity in playing this team; you get experience the more times you play them.”

The 29-year-old featured for Scotland in their last two meetings with the Springboks.

On both occasions, the Boks proved too strong, pulling away in the closing stages despite spirited performances from the Scots.

A lot has changed since then. Scotland have been on an upward trajectory and beat France and England in this year’s Six Nations campaign.

“I think we’re a much different team now,” he admitted.

“I would like to think we’ve kind of evolved into becoming the team we want to become.

“We saw bits of that in the Six Nations, and I was really proud of the performance last week away from home.

“The games we’ve played over the last 12 months have shown that we’re a little bit of a different team to the one that played them last time at Murrayfield.”

Tuipulotu didn’t mince his words when asked about the scale of the Test awaiting his side.

He described it as one of the “biggest challenges” of his career, but stressed the importance of not overhyping the occasion.

He also insisted that Scotland will arrive on matchday believing they can compete despite being labelled underdogs.

“Our confidence is a little bit quieter.

“There’s no point in talking about anything before the game because you’ve got to go out there and play the World champions in their own backyard.

“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 there on Saturday to lose before the game.

“That’s stupid. I’m confident in my group, but we’ll focus on ourselves, and we know the challenge ahead.”

Scotland have named a 6-2 split on the bench and will hope their replacements can provide the impact needed in the second half.

In recent meetings with the Springboks, the closing stages have often proved decisive, with Scotland struggling to match the World champions’ intensity.

Tuipulotu believes that period will once again be crucial on Saturday

“In any big Test match, the last 20 minutes is so important.

“The role of the bench in modern-day rugby has developed so much, and South Africa have revolutionised the game in the way the bench is used.

“We know how important that’s going to be. I thought the bench for us against Argentina made a really good impact, and that needs to happen again this week.”