Following injury to Brodie Retallick and Sam Whitelock, as well as the death of Luke Romano's relative, Tuipulotu started in a historic 29-40 first-time loss against Ireland in Chicago, on 5 November 2016, with Blues teammate Jerome Kaino, who was shifted from blindside flanker to lock, following uncapped locks Scott Barrett and Vaea Fifita being called up as injury cover.

The poor performances of Tuipulotu, Kaino, Joe Moody and Aaron Smith were later criticised, with the unusual locking combination against Ireland generally accepted as the cause of New Zealand's loss.

[9] Starting in combination with the now-capped Barrett against Italy the following week, Tuipulotu scored his second test try, producing a much better performance in the 68-10 win.

Tuipulotu did not play against the British & Irish Lions in 2017 after he was late to a Blues training session, following missing much of the season with injury.

[10] Following his mixed start to the season, he was not selected for All Blacks 33-man Lions tour squad, losing his spot to Scott Barrett, but was re-called near the end of the 2017 Rugby Championship as Brodie Retallick was unavailable.

Tuipulotu's great form through 2018 then saw him named as co-captain for the Blues' 2019 Super Rugby season, by new head coach, Leon MacDonald.

[11] Tuipulotu will be captain alongside loose forward, Blake Gibson, and succeed Augustine Pulu as the team's leader.