Carwyn Tuipulotu

Carwyn Tuipulotu was watched at a schools cup match in England by Welsh recruiters who did not know who he was. What made them look him up was his first name. His father Kati, a Tonga international playing at Ebbw Vale when his son was born, had picked it after conversations at a local Methodist church. Carwyn means blessing with God’s love in Welsh.

No 8 at Pau, 1.89m and 127kg, and 24 years old.

The eligibility checked out, and Wales took him through the under-18s and under-20s under the Exiles programme. The family is one of the game’s largest: Taulupe Faletau is a cousin, so are Billy and Mako Vunipola and the Wales international Sisilia Tuipulotu, and his uncle Sione played for Tonga.

He was born in Abergavenny and moved to England at four when his father became a player-coach at New Brighton. He found rugby at ten and went to Sedbergh School, and was tried at prop, wing, centre and lock before the back row settled it.

The Scarlets gave him a debut against Leinster in 2020-21 and a four-year contract, and Warren Gatland named him a possible future international. Injuries then cost him most of three seasons.

Saracens took him on loan in January 2025 and he scored on debut. A month later Pau signed him as a medical joker, started him in his first three matches, and extended him that June. He has said he wants to succeed Faletau in the Wales back row.

A heavy, direct carrier at 127kg, and one of the more unusual eligibility stories in a competition full of them. Whether the Wales ambition follows depends on staying fit for a full season, which he has not yet managed.