Sione v Suaalii 2: Centres set to clash once more after Murrayfield beef as British & Irish Lions prepare to take on Australia in Brisbane

That day, Suaalii hit Scotland’s Melbourne-born skipper Tuipulotu with a crunching tackle.

Tuipulotu then aimed words towards Suaalii, who had hurt his arm while making the challenge, with tempers flaring between the inside centres. Suaalii was reportedly heard on the referee’s mic saying “see you next time” to his counterpart.

During Test week, Suaalii downplayed the incident, saying: “I feel like there’s been a lot of talk around that moment but at the end of the day it’s just a game of footy.

“I’m a big believer that whatever’s said on the field stays on the field. 

“I’m just focused on what I can do for the team, that’s it. I’m not going to speak on it, to be fair.

“I always focus on myself first before I put my energy into someone else, and obviously fans want to see a rivalry and all that, but it’s a team sport and I’m just trying to do the best for the team.”

Tuipulotu, meanwhile, said he had been warned to avoid reminding Suaalii of the historic beef.

“I know Eoin Toolan, who is the analyst at the Wallabies,” he said. “And he used to be our analyst at Melbourne.

“He’s told me to stop talking on these podcasts about Joey [Suaalii] because he says he’s raring to go. I don’t want to put any targets on my back from big Joey.”

Tuipulotu lines up alongside Scotland compatriot Huw Jones in the centres on Saturday, as the ‘Huwipulotu’ pairing look to help give the Lions an early series lead.

1. Ellis Genge
2. Dan Sheehan
3. Tadhg Furlong
4. Maro Itoje (c)
5. Joe McCarthy
6. Tadhg Beirne
7. Tom Curry
8. Jack Conan

9. Jamison Gibson-Park
10. Finn Russell
11. James Lowe
12. Sione Tuipulotu
13. Huw Jones
14. Tommy Freeman
15. Hugo Keenan

Replacements: Ronan Kelleher, Andrew Porter, Will Stuart, Ollie Chessum, Ben Earl, Alex Mitchell, Marcus Smith, Bundee Aki