Scotland's base for much of the early weeks of the World Cup is Sophia-Antipolis, a stretch of land 20 minutes inland from the Mediterranean Sea, halfway between Nice and Cannes.

Sione Tuipulotu, the charismatic centre with a family back story that takes in Scotland, Australia, Tonga and Italy, spoke with emotion - stopping to compose himself on one occasion - about his mother, Angelina, who had just touched down in France to watch her son play for Scotland for the first time in her life.

We focus all the time on the technical in sport, but what of the emotional? Tuipulotu excels when talking about both and he is hugely engaging company.

He said that Sunday against South Africa will be the "biggest game I'll ever have been involved in", not just because it is a World Cup opener against the reigning champions in what will be a hot and heaving stadium in Marseille, but because of his mother's presence.

Her journey from Melbourne was eventful by the sounds of it.

"She's terrible with admin, like me, and she made a few mistakes along the way, but she's here, she made it," he says. "The journey over was an absolute nightmare and I'm just praying that she gets to Marseille safely."

They will manage to meet up in the coming days. It will be some reunion.

Tuipulotu spoke about the mighty challenge facing Scotland, about the monstrous physicality that is heading their way, but that was the rugby player talking shop. When he talked about family you saw an altogether different person.

The Glasgow Warriors centre was part-raised by Angelina's mother - his Scottish granny, Jaqueline Anne Thompson.

To know where his depth of feeling came from on Thursday, you have to know where of all this began. His granny married an Italian and they had Angelina, who married a Tongan, and Sione was their son was born in Australia in 1997.

He says his mum and dad had a hard working life so that their children could live with more privilege. It might have taken a while to appreciate it - as a young man he went through an angry and frustrated phase - but he appreciates it now. All of it.

Jaqueline was an enormous part of his upbringing. Scottish-ness was bred into him as a young child, listening to an accent that has never left her. Linger awhile on his granny's influence and you will see tears, nothing surer.

'Mum's pride is biggest motivation'

On his left bicep he has a tattoo of an album cover - the Miseducation of Lauryn Hill - a record that means more to him than mere music.

"It's one of my mum's favourite albums, so I got this tattoo a long time ago because it reminded me of my childhood and my mum and Lauryn Hill playing in the background in the house," he explained.

"I had a chat with mum when she got to Paris and it was quite an emotional phone call. She'd always be calling me from back home, she'd wake up and watch our games and say how proud she was. I don't need any other motivation.

"It's not just the journey she's just made to get to France but her journey in general. When it's your mum, you're the only one who knows what she has been through to get me to this point.

"She last watched me when I was in Melbourne with the Rebels. My dad has been over to Scotland to watch a couple of my games, but because it's mum coming over now, I'm very emotional about it.

"Everybody has their ups and downs. Everybody loses confidence. She said that, as soon as I set foot in Scotland, my confidence came back and she kind of saw me as a kid again, when I used to play at under-12s and under-14s. That was cool."

To say that Tuipulotu has shaken things up in Scotland is putting it mildly. He is, of course, one part of a double act in midfield that was voted the best centre pairing of the Six Nations.

Huw Jones was in the room when his mate was talking on Thursday. The bond between them is clearly strong. Both are in the form of their lives having gone through various crises in their playing careers.

Talent alone rarely gets you this far. Resilience is key to both of their stories.

"To be in the week of the opening game, this is a special moment for me and my family," Tuipulotu said. "I've been really focused and I'm hoping I can have my biggest game for Scotland in the biggest match I'll have ever played in.

"I had a goal that, if I was going to move that far away from my family, I was going to make it happen. It was always something I thought of as a kid.

"I always wanted to be one of the best players in my position in the world and this is the tournament you get to prove that. There's no bigger challenge than this weekend."

Every game Tuipulotu's played for Scotland has been a "pinch myself" moment, in part because of the years he spent in Melbourne not playing and wondering whether his dream of going where he wanted to go was over.

That's another lifetime ago. Now, he's one of Scotland's main men, a player with power and skill who will look to the stand where his mum is sitting and aim to play what he hopes will be the best game of his life.