Tuipulotu snubs England & France offers for Glasgow stay

Sione Tuipulotu admits he spoke to other clubs before agreeing a new deal to stay at Glasgow Warriors, with the Scotland captain believing he can achieve all his ambitions at Scotstoun.

The in-form centre, 27, was subject to interest from clubs in England and France, but this week committed himself to the Warriors until the summer of 2028.

Tuipulotu will lead Scotland against South Africa at Murrayfield on Sunday (16:10 GMT).

"In terms of making my decision, I had the option of maybe going to the [English] Premiership or over to France," he said.

"I was pretty clear with my agent and I was pretty open and honest with Glasgow that I would be exploring my opportunities elsewhere, just because I think that's just the right thing to do.

"When it came down to it, I had maybe a few offers somewhere else and the Glasgow offer, and the Glasgow one just made sense to me."

After a spell in Japan with Yamaha Jubilo, Tuipulotu signed for Glasgow in 2021 and was a central figure as they won the URC last season.

"My heart's really in it at Glasgow and I think that just correlates to how I want to play," he added.

"I suppose there's always the temptation to try to go somewhere else. But I had already moved from Melbourne to Japan and Japan to Glasgow and it was kind of a sense of also I'm happy where I am.

"So why try to search for something more, somewhere else when I'm happy right where I am?

"I suppose when you do finally sign there might be a bit of regret after. But I only have relief that I didn't have to go somewhere else maybe to chase money or play at a so-called higher profile club.

"I'm just happy where I am at Glasgow. I have a pretty good shot of chasing silverware at Glasgow, so why move?"