'I'm pretty average' - Piutau on Fortnite, Bristol Bears and online comments

London’s streets weren’t paved with gold on Saturday for Charles Piutau. Bristol had initially played like Bears at Allianz Park and led the champions 13-7 prior to the last play of the opening half.

Then it all fell asunder. Saracens ran riot and Piutau eventually departed like a bear with a sore head during the costly second-half period spent down a man to the sin bin.

The full-back missed a tackle on Sean Maitland in the lead-up to one score and just before he was substituted, he was pinged for holding on in his last act before another try in as one-sided a Gallagher Premiership half as you will ever likely witness. 

In the end, it finished a chastening 13-47, a cruel reminder there is still a way to go yet in Pat Lam’s long-term dream of turning his pretenders into definite title contenders.

The wound can be quickly patched up next Friday night, though. Bristol know a win at home over Wasps in front of a bumper holiday crowd in excess of 20,000 will temporarily lift them back into pole position before other teams play their round seven fixtures. 

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In the meantime, spending Christmas Day over at his brother Siale’s place is the priority after a tough year. It was early April when the tightly knit family of ten siblings lost sister Ema to cancer, a devastating blow for a clan reared in the best Tongan traditions in the Auckland suburb of Mangere.   

“In the Pacific Islands and in our culture family is everything,” explained Piutau to RugbyPass. “Family is first. You grow up and are taught the values that are important, of being together as a family and looking after one another. Having that instilled in us as kids I am quite proud of. 

“When it comes to holiday times, Christmas and stuff, it is awesome just to get together with family and celebrating those moments. Being together is the main thing and I am lucky enough that I have my brother here and his family as well. It definitely makes the Christmas a whole lot better.”

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“There is a lot of community events that come across to our team manager and I then liaise in terms of putting it up to the rest of the squad. Most of the other clubs I had been a part of, boys were delegated and told who is going where and at what time. But the great thing about Bristol is the boys get to put up their hand and volunteer for whatever community events they want to be a part of. 

“These community events range from hospital visits to coaching clinics with kids. It’s the full range of things, visiting rest homes or helping out feeding homeless people in the city. It has a great impact. Not only for us going out there, but the people we come across.  

“The main thing is getting the brand out there, who we are as Bristol Bears genuinely caring about our community. At the same time, the boys play a bit of rugby with ball in hand as well and hopefully if people are not rugby fans or if they are not following the team, after this experience with them maybe they will get along to a game.”

Matches at Ashton Gate are certainly getting progressively more exciting the longer Lam and his crew spend at an ambitious club. The former Samoan player turned unfashionable Connacht from bungling chumps into glittering Guinness PRO12 champs in the space of three seasons in Ireland. 

The coach is now in his third season at Bristol, following up a Championship title win in his maiden season with a ninth-place Premiership finish last term that was only five points off semi-final qualifying Northampton.

While it might sound very far-fetched in the wake of their Saturday hammering at Saracens to suggest a title might be winnable next June, Piutau is very optimistic they are at least headed in the right direction. It was why the 28-year-old recently signed a contract extension taking him through to 2022 with the club.  

"attachment_54747" align="alignnone" width="1920"] Steven Luatua (front left), Siale Piutau and Charles Piutau pose for a photo with their families after a Gallagher Premiership win last season over Gloucester (Photo by Harry Trump/Getty Images)

“Coming from the Pacific Islands, it is a different environment. You are talking about they are living in a small village, the sun is out, they are living on the beach and time is slow. They are coming into a professional environment with all these expectations and they are expected to perform.

“It’s just being able to cope and help with a glimpse of something small, whether it is to help with a visit or transitioning from that (island environment) into whatever club they are at, or any other issues that may come to mind.”

His various lobbying could ultimately be rewarded in a personal way, though. It is often said that islanders capped by the top tier nations should be allowed to go back and represent the culture they are really more invested in.   

Siale Piutau celebrates after scoring for Tonga during the recent World Cup game against the USA in Osaka (Photo by Adam Pretty/Getty Images)

For Piutau, that would mean being permitted to represent Tonga, the county skippered at the 2019 World Cup by his brother Siale. To play for the Ikale Tahi would be rather marvellous following his previous existence as a 17-times capped All Black axed by Steve Hansen before the 2015 World Cup after he revealed he would switch to European club rugby in 2016. 

“I have been asked this question many times and if the opportunity arises I would be more than happy to have a crack with Tonga and be able to help in whatever way that I can for the country in terms of the rugby team. Yeah, definitely.”

In essence, it would be quite the ultimate Christmas present if it ever came to pass. 

WATCH: RugbyPass went behind the scenes with the Tonga national team as they prepared for the 2019 World Cup in Japan