Sione Tuipulotu: Kick up the bum helped Glasgow Warriors return to winning ways

Sione Tuipulotu with fans after Glasgow Warriors' 20-9 win over the DHL Stormers at Scotstoun. (Photo by Ross MacDonald / SNS Group)

Sione Tuipulotu said “a kick up the bum” from head coach Franco Smith helped Glasgow Warriors return to winning ways as they defeated the DHL Stormers 20-9 in the United Rugby Championship at Scotstoun.

The Warriors had begun the new season with an impressive 43-25 win over Leinster but followed it up with a defeat by Connacht last weekend. They played within themselves in Galway and Smith let them know about it, according to Tuipulotu.

“Franco wasn’t too happy about last week so we got a kick up the bum this week at training. I think that helped,” said the centre, who marked his first appearance of the season with the opening try. “There was a bit of urgency about us and passion and we have to take that into next week against Ospreys. We just have to keep working on things and week by week we continue to get better.”

Tuipulotu, the player of the match, had missed the first two games of the season following the World Cup and turned in an impressive performance, particularly in the first half. Johnny Matthews scored Glasgow’s other two tries, both from lineout mauls, as the Warriors got the better of the 2022 URC champions for the second season in a row.

“It’s nice to come home and we get a win against a pretty good side,” Tuipulotu told Viaplay. “That’s the thing I’m most happy about. It didn’t really feel like I’d been away. I didn’t get much rest but I’m happy to be back in. It’s good to start off my season with a win.

“It was a physical night. We [the backs] didn’t have to do much defending as the forwards stood up tonight and we knew they had to do that in order for us to win. They did a really good job for us tonight. Stormers scored 50 points in the first two weeks of the season and we held them to nine. So I’m sure Pete Murchie [Glasgow’s defence coach] will be happy. But there are still things to work on and we have to keep kicking on throughout the season.”

John Dobson, the Stormers head coach, bemoaned his side’s poor discipline as flanker Evan Roos and hooker Joseph Dweba were both yellow-carded just before half-time. “And we are still not adapting to the artificial fields,” added Dobson whose side were playing the first match of a four-game European tour in the URC.