Sione Tuipulotu makes feeling clear on Scotland summer internationals and drops big Finn Russell hint

Summer Tests are often seen as an opportunity for international coaches to rest more experienced squad members in favour of giving minutes to fringe or younger players. However, things could be different this time around as an all new competition gets under way.

Gregor Townsend's side face trips to Argentina and South Africa before hosting Fiji at Murrayfield in July. They then return to the competition in the Autumn when New Zealand, Australia and Japan visit Edinburgh.

Scotland skipper backs Finn Russell for Summer Test matches as stand-off closes in on 100 caps

Glasgow Warriors’ centre Tuipulotu says he is eager to play in the upcoming matches and believes that fly-half Finn Russell will be of the same mindset. “I want to go, yeah,” Tuipulotu said. “I think just the schedule, the way the schedule is, they're big games against really good opposition, I want to go play in those games.

“I know Finn will probably feel the same, because I think he wants to play a hundred games in Scotland, there's all that type of stuff. He doesn't know how much longer he's going to play, well he always tells me he's going to play until 40, but who knows how his body will be then, it's been good to him up to now. I'm the same, I just want to play as much as I can.”

Playing in the July Test matches would not leave Tuipulotu, 29, much room for a break, especially if Warriors reach the final of the URC. The showpiece match is scheduled to be played on June 20, just two weeks before the match against Los Pumas in Cordoba.

Despite that, the 2025 British & Irish Lion cap still wants to play as much rugby as possible. He acknowledges he is in a position that many would kill for, including his own younger brother Tavi Tuipulotu, who also plays for Warriors although no where near as frequently as his older sibling.

“We have played a lot of rugby up until this point,” added the older Tuipulotu. “But I look at someone like my brother, who hasn't been allowed to play that rugby, or both my brothers, you know, and they would all kill to be in my position now.

“So being available to play rugby isn't a bad thing, although I've played a lot of it, that's my perspective anyways. Coming in for these last six weeks, my brothers would love to be playing rugby right now, so I'm going to grab the opportunity over the next six weeks and make something happen.”

The 2026 Nations Championship will be the inaugural edition of the international competition. Teams are divided into two pools of six, which are divided by norther and southern hemisphere, and play a full round-robin of matches with the nations in the opposing pool.

The top teams in each pool advance to a Nations Championship final which will be played in London on November 29. The other nations play Test matches against the teams that finished in their corresponding position in the other pool.

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