Sione out to secure Scottish history
6 Nov 2026On 33 previous occasions, Scotland have tried and come up short against New Zealand.
Two draws at Murrayfield, in 1964 and 1983, were agonisingly so, although the past four fixtures have seen the All Blacks walk away from Edinburgh with nerves shot to pieces as several Scottish sides pushed them to the limit in order to protect their invincibility in the fixture.
Sione Tuipulotu featured in the past two of those, in 2022 and in 2025, both eight-point defeats and both games in which Scotland truly had an opportunity at making history.
It’s an obsession of the captain’s to be among the first players to break this sporting duck, an obsession born in his native Australia and one which he is determined to realise on Saturday afternoon.
Speaking ahead of the opening November Nations Championship encounter, he said: “I think, even through the past two World Cup cycles, where South Africa has been the dominant force in world rugby, the All Blacks just is rugby, you know? Growing up in Australia of course, I lived my early childhood through All Black dominance.
Pictured: Sione Tuipulotu in a battle with New Zealand’s Caleb Clarke during a Quilter Nations Series match at Scottish Gas Murrayfield Stadium, 8 November 2025
“I can’t think of many times where I’ve watched the Wallabies beat them, and I think just the history behind that jersey means so much to rugby, doesn’t it? No matter how they’re playing, even through rough patches the All Blacks are still the All Blacks to a lot of supporters.
“They promote rugby to the world – that’s the perfect way to put it. You look at The Greatest Rivalry Series; I don’t want to open a can of worms but there’s a lot of South Africans that support them, they’re almost a world team. There will be Scots who have followed them for many years and loved the brand they play.
“So it’s an important fixture; whenever they play, the world is watching and that’s why we know it’s such an important fixture and we want to treat it as such.”
You can read the interview in full in this Saturday’s Scotland v New Zealand matchday programme, available at the game or online here.
