Tuipulotu returns as Glasgow bid to build on opening win
· Yahoo Sports
Scotland captain Sione Tuipulotu returns to the Glasgow Warriors squad for this weekend's URC clash with Ulster at Scotstoun.
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Tuipulotu was rested for last weekend's season-opening victory at Munster as Glasgow manage the workload of their international players, with the Rugby World Cup in Australia looming large next year.
"He played a lot last season," assistant coach Scott Forrest said of Tuipulotu.
"This is a big season that's going to lead into a World Cup next October so there's a big piece here where all of our Scotland players are going to get managed at points.
"It's tough, there's no point shying away from that, when you've got 20, potentially 20-plus, players that have to perform here and perform for Scotland in such an important year.
"Even the autumn games, that's completely different now that it's the Nations Championship. All those fixtures mean something, there's a finals weekend off the back of it. You look historically where we maybe played a Portugal or a Tonga in that window and Scotland could rotate, that now changes things.
"Then obviously there's an eye on the World Cup. So yes, it's tough, but when you look back on the way [head coach] Franco Smith has selected teams in the past, we always rotate players. There is a trust in the whole squad."
Having made Scotstoun such a difficult venue for visiting teams last season - Smith's side won all eight of their URC regular season matches at the stadium - Forrest says there's an extra onus on the players to make sure that continues in the first home game of the new campaign.
"We do know it's a very proud record we've got at home," he added.
"We've just gone away to one of the hardest places to go in Munster and we've come away with a win, even though we were a little bit rusty in some areas.
"We've got a group of players that know how to win and how to see out games. The biggest thing for us this weekend is back that up. That win doesn't count for much if you then come home and you cough up a result.
"We've taken five points on the road, that gets made even sweeter if we back that up with another five points this Saturday. "