There are two Justin Tipurics. Come Six Nations Saturdays there he is — the blue scrum-capped tackling machine, a breakdown beast No 7 — right in the spotlight.
The back-rower has 62 Welsh caps, two Championship titles, two Lions tours under his belt and other flankers in his back pocket. His talent is as thunderous as the Principality Stadium din when Wales are winning.
The blue headgear he always dons is a tribute to Trebanos, his home club in Swansea Valley
The back-rower has 62 Welsh caps, two Championship titles, two Lions tours under his belt and other flankers in his back pocket. His talent is as thunderous as the Principality Stadium din when Wales are winning. But when not on the field, the 29-year-old from Trebanos transforms to his norm. Quiet, reserved, desperately dashing away from the limelight.
‘I’m not a big speaker to be honest,’ admits Tipuric. He may not talk about himself, but when team-mates do they often rate him the best they’ve played with. ‘They are probably just winding me up!’ comes the bashful reply.
Tipuric is not into Twitter, Instagram or Facebook — some are surprised he can even use WhatsApp.
‘Social media is just not me,’ Tipuric says. ‘I don’t want to make a big deal of it — when I go home I just like to switch off. If you’re on your phone the whole time it’s not great.
‘I’ve never been into it. Because I’ve never gone on it — I’m a bit old-school in a way — I don’t need to. You miss out on a few perks some of the boys have but it’s just the way I am.’
The blue scrum-capped tackling machine is a beast at the breakdown for Wales
No endorsements then, unlike most of his peers, but at least his boots and scrum-cap are sorted. It’s all he really needs. The blue headgear he always dons is a tribute to Trebanos, his home club in the Swansea Valley.
‘When I first started playing it went with the Trebanos kit a bit,’ Tipuric explains. ‘I’ve kept it since then.’
The same one? ‘Jeepers, no!’ he laughs. ‘The first one I had did last a while, and it was a darker blue, but the colours of scrum-caps change — the blue tints and stuff! So I try to keep it as close as I can. They have been good as gold to me and sort me out with them.’
Tipuric’s way of repaying Trebanos is to coach the juniors. During Six Nations down-weeks he’s back on the touchline, back to his roots.
‘It is a bit hectic,’ he says of getting back to the club at this
