Tongan, half-Kiwi - the Aussie aiming to take Scotland to next level

You hear it all the time in professional sport, the sacrifice that must be made to pursue the dream, the things you have to give up to stay in the game.

Just because it's a cliche doesn't mean it isn't true - and the new head coach of the Scotland women's team, Sione Fukofuka, is living proof of it.
Half-Tongan, half-Kiwi and a proud Australian, Fukofuka was head coach of the Women's Eagles in America up until last year.

He became Bryan Easson's replacement in December.

It'll be 01:40 in the morning, but the game is on pay television and the boys have special dispensation to stay up, if they can manage it.

Elijah, Isaac, Noah and Tobias.

Nine, six, four and two.

His wife, Tara, and his mum, Judy, have organised a watch party, as Fukofuka calls it.

"It's tough being apart, but my wife makes it work," he says of the long distance relationship.

"Realistically, she's the one doing the hard stuff and because of that I've been able to put the hours into this role, which has been great.

"I have breakfast and dinner with them online.

It's not perfect by any means, but it's the way it is.

"One of the boys rang the other night, just feeling a little bit lost.

It's tough.

That's the nice thing about FaceTime.

It's not the same, but it's a way to stay connected.

My wife is magic.

She films as much as she can and I'll wake up in the morning to a couple of videos.

Mom's great at that, too."
When he was coaching the Americans (he was the head coach at the World Cup last year) they were in Denver as a family.

Sacrifices, but no regrets, just a feeling of excitement heading for Wales and then, a week later, playing England at Murrayfield.

More than 25,000 tickets have already been sold.

New territory.

This is an entirely new coaching regime and a wider Scotland squad with plenty of new faces.

Scotland had a decent Six Nations a year ago and a really strong World Cup despite in-camp turmoil around contracts.

The senior operators say the squad is in a better place now, that they feel more valued by Scottish Rugby and that the issues that caused such tremendous upset have largely been dealt with.

Fukofuka says this is the closest group of players he's ever seen.

After learning about what went on before the World Cup he understood more of why there's such a bond there.

Having watched the documentary about Emma Wassell's extraordinary return to action after undergoing surgery to remove a tumour from her chest in 2024 he got an even greater picture of what these players have been through together.

It was an education, he said.

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I dived into reading really early on.

And rugby.

I started playing at four.

I played into my late 30s and mum would still come and watch."
He did 19 years as an English and PE teacher in Brisbane.

Rugby coaching seemed like a natural progression.

"I was teaching kids aged 12 up to 18 and we had some really high-flying academic students at the school," he explains.

"It was challenging being in a classroom, knowing that you weren't the smartest person in the room.

It instilled a level of preparation in me.

I needed to know my stuff."
He's been a development coach, he's worked in sevens, he worked with the Queensland Reds women's team and the Wallaroos, then the USA.

Now it's time for the next chapter.

What has he seen so far?

"You look at our team profile, we've got some pretty good edge players who are very good in space," he says.

"When you get the ball in Fran's hands and you get the ball in Rhona's hands, good things happen," he says of wings, Francesca McGhie and Rhona Lloyd.

"But that only happens when all the others perform.

I've got some really intelligent players who have a strong understanding of how to play the game.

"There's a level of dynamic ability in there.

And there's a skillset that we want to work really hard to unlock.

They're so tight as a group.

This is a squad that rolls their sleeves up and gets stuck in."
They'll have other things to watch in the coming weeks.

Five games and no end of ups and downs.

They'll be 10,000 miles away, sure, but they'll be as excited and as nervous as any Scot watching on at the Principality or at Murrayfield, in Parma for the Italy game, at the Hive for France or at the Aviva in Dublin on the last day against Ireland.

For Fukofuka, and for them all, it's a new beginning.

Related internet links

• Scottish Rugby Union