Tuipulotu in Scarlets move

ONE of Welsh rugby’s rising stars, Carwyn Tuipulotu, the son of a former Tongan international, will be playing his rugby in west Wales next season after being signed into the Scarlets academy.

Tuipulotu is the the son of exDunvant and Ebbw Vale No.8 Kati , who was capped 16 times for the Pacific Islanders and played in the 1999 Rugby World Cup.

Carwyn was born in Gwent before Kati moved to the north of England to continue his rugby career.

He has been educated at Sedbergh School in Cumbria – which includes England internationals Will Carling and Will Greenwood as its past pupils – and has been playing for the Newcastle Falcons Academy.

However, Tuipulotu has been one of the players earmarked by the Welsh Rugby Union’s Welsh Exiles programme, which was set up to identify and monitor Welshqualified players based outside Wales.

And after being capped by Wales Under-18s at the age of 16, Welsh rugby chiefs have convinced the powerful No.8 that his future lies in west Wales.

Tuipulotu will continue his development at Parc y Scarlets along with fellow new recruits scrum-half Luke Davies from Tumble and wing Callum Williams from Cardigan.

Scarlets general manager of rugby Jon Daniels said: “Players like Callum, Luke and Carwyn are the lifeblood and future of the region.

“We’re delighted to be welcoming the three in as the first new intake in to the academy for the forthcoming season.

We have a very experienced team of staff running our academy and age grade programmes doing excellent work unearthing and nurturing the region’s next generation of talent.

“We have seen a number of players from within the Scarlets wider community go on to become senior Scarlets as well as internationals. “