A TOP AWARD FOR CARWYN
THE memory drifts back to a wet and windy day in Lancashire when a confident England Colts team turned up to face Welsh Youth, only to find themselves destroyed by Scott Quinnell-inspired opponents who went on what might be styled as a rugby rampage.
It finished 32-3 to the team in red. Pack leader Quinnell plundered four tries, a Gulliver among Lilliputian opponents. The home players had no answer to his bulk and power.
He went on to deliver at senior international level, but not every promising youngster masters that trick. Plenty find the step from age-grade rugby to the senior ranks too much to handle.
How will Carwyn Tuipulotu fare? A cousin of Taulupe Faletau and Billy and Mako Vunipola, the teenager with the memorable name has been described as one of the most coveted young players in the United Kingdom.
The Scarlets snapped him up as a 16-year-old and increasing numbers at the region believe the 6ft 2in, 19st 10lb No. 8 is on course to prove himself the genuine article.
The weekend before last was a big one for the youngster as he crowned his time at Sedbergh School by winning the John Angus Leybourne Cup, an award for the ‘most special’ pupil in the school.
Sedbergh, who count Will Carling and Will Greenwood as former pupils, is one of the UK’s strongest rugby schools and had gone on a threeyear unbeaten run which only ended when they lost to Millfield before Christmas.
A social media post from the school after Tuipulotu’s award described him as an “outstanding young man who has had a brilliant Sedbergh career”.
The Scarlets are playing the long game with the Wales Under-18s No. 8, nurturing him while attempting to keep the spotlight off him. They are acutely aware of the importance of young players keeping their feet on the terra firma.
Not that Tuipulotu seems the kind to believe in his own publicity.
Pretty much all who know him describe him disciplined, modest and grounded, with an appetite for hard work. His major on-pitch plus point, predictably, is his battering-ram carrying, but he also hits hard in the tackle.
He has also made clear his rugby alignment to Wales, saying earlier this year: “I am very much committed to Wales. I don’t see England or
Tonga as potential options.
“I chose Wales because it feels like home to me and the people are so nice and welcoming.
“My plan is to be involved with the Scarlets A team next season while hopefully playing for a local feeder club. Honestly, I’m so happy that I’ve moved back to Wales.”
On his three famous rugby cousins, he said: “When I was growing up, I remember Billy, Mako and Taulupe as being like my big brothers.
“But when they became professional rugby players, I saw how proud their families were and how much fun they were having.
“I take a lot of inspiration from them. It has inspired and driven me to try to follow in their footsteps because I want to make my family proud and inspire my little cousins too, just as they did for me.
“I am highly motivated and willing to work extremely hard to make it.”
On social media, hundreds favoured the announcement of the youngster winning his Sedbergh award. Harri Deaves, an exceptionally promising Welsh rugby prospect in his own right, called him “one of the best people I’ve met”.
Tuipulotu’s dad, Kati, the ex-Tonga international who played for Dunvant, Neath, Ebbw Vale and Narberth, evidently has much to be proud of, on and off the field.