2 of Freddie Tuilagi's sons have signed up to face Saracens in next season's Championship
Ever since Saracens were automatically relegated to the Championship for the 2020/21 season, the consensus has been that their promotion back to the Premiership is a foregone conclusion. However, with Ealing Trailfinders leading the way with an impressive recruitment drive, other clubs are now also looking to make life uncomfortable for the 2019 Gallagher Premiership champions.
London Scottish are the latest to announce some eye-catching recruits, new director of rugby Matt Williams revealing that he has signed Fred and Brian Tuilagi, sons of Freddie Tuilagi, the ex-Leicester and Samoa player, and nephews of current England international Manu.
Aged 26, Brian Tuilagi can play anywhere in the pack back five and he has joined London Scottish from Italian Top 12 team Mogliano following a circuitous career that has involved two seasons at Dax, stints in the Leicester and Newcastle academies and an Anglo-Welsh Cup appearance for Saracens against Leicester in February 2017.
Younger brother Fred, 23, also joins Scottish from the Italian Top 12, the No8 having been at Colorno after coming through the Leicester system and debuting for Tigers in the Anglo-Welsh Cup in November 2016 at Bath.
“It’s a blessing that our family have had the success that they have had,” said Brian on the London Scottish website after the signings were confirmed. “We’re very proud of our family and what they have achieved over the years. Hopefully, we can soon replicate some of what they have accomplished.
??Check out our new duo signing in action!
First up for you we have @fredtuilagi ? pic.twitter.com/hYUrjyYMIe
— London Scottish Rugby (@LSFCOfficial) June 17, 2020
“I’m looking forward to getting back into the English system and showcasing what I have learnt in the last three years in France and Italy… it’s already a good start when you don’t have to learn a new language. Signing together with Fred for this season is special. It’s a blessing to play the game you love, but to have the opportunity to do it with your brother is something I’m very grateful for.”
Fred added: “We’re both competitive, but we will both be pushing each other to become better players. It’s always been a dream to play on the same side and we are over the moon for the opportunity.”
Scottish boss Williams said: “I’m beyond excited to work with Fred and Brian. They play slightly differently in style, but will massively complement each other and still carry the physicality you’d expect from a Tuilagi in defence and with ball in hand.
“With the added spice of the boys finally getting to play in the same team I can’t wait to see them drive each other on to produce excellence. They will bring a real physical threat to our pack.”
'When I took over I had to Google where these clubs were'
From the Premiership to level nine status in the Herts/Middlesex 1 League, it's been a long old drop for @LondonWelshRFC . @CaiGriffiths talks to @heagneyl on how a humbled club at rebuilding ???https://t.co/tfYnaumj1y
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) May 17, 2020
Comments on RugbyPass
Son, whith just " raw athlete “ , you are able to beat “ better rugby players “ by 74 points…. May be England should recruit in athletics….
1 Go to commentsPffft. It’s not a one-way street bud and Irish teams don’t seem to have had an issue taking kiwi players previously.
6 Go to commentsParticularly great to have captain Scott Barrett back after going off last week for the Crusaders. Codie Taylor a real leader and mighty Tamaiti Williams join Fletcher Newell in the front row. Those 2 will make a big difference. Great bench with the likes of Tom Christie, Jamie Hannah etc who are playing well. Should be a great derby.
1 Go to commentsDoes a blitz defence not have a weekness against a well-placed grubber kick, perhaps angled cleverly. All the defence is up and the full-back can only cover so much ground. Thoughts?
28 Go to commentsWhile Iose is destructive in the Canes set-up, he is not big for an international 8 and could struggle against the top teams. With his speed, he could be developed into a seven but, as Ben points out, he doesn’t show a scavenging game with the Canes or make dominating tackles. Sotutu has shown a step up this year and attitude plus motivation seems to be the big areas of growth. Deserves another AB shot imo.
3 Go to commentsNaholo is my only question mark for this side. He wasn’t the only one who had a forgettable game against the Brumbies but he was passive, defensively poor and generally lacked energy. Needs to get a whole lot busier for me. I would have liked to see Sullivan on that wing with Higgins on the bench (if staying with a 6-2 as BeegMike points out on here!)
3 Go to commentsWell, I am sure that Eben said exactly what he meant to say, exactly how he meant to say it. Does he strike you as a man that doesn't know arrogance when he sees it. He should know it because he has shaken the arrogance out of many foes before.
132 Go to commentsPls get it into your thick arrogant heads that the final was played by two Southern Hemisphere teams. The best against the best and that Argentina was just unlucky otherwise non of the Northetn Hemisphere teams would have seen the light of day.
132 Go to commentsAs long as New Zealand youth are involved in sport they are passionate for, and are well supported, it’s all good. I love league as well as rugby. NRL clubs have long since scouted the First 15 competitions, the NH and Japan scout super rugby and NPC. It’s a miracle there’s any players left for the all blacks to pick from.
4 Go to commentsI'm a Bok fan, so I don't say this lightly, but he is one of my all time favourite players. I am really going to miss watching him play. Thanks for many great memories. You are a true legend of the game.
3 Go to commentsBest way to deal with all of this is to play another game.
132 Go to commentsIt’s 12-15 games Luke. Ringrose has barely played in 2024 and Henshaw and Keenan have also been out for spells in the same time period. There are always injuries and for younger players to play with the likes of Barrett will be great for them. It’s just looking for negatives where there are none.
6 Go to commentsAndy Goode pushing his own agenda with very dubious considerations on refereeing performances. Luke Pearce speaking a bit of French doesn’t make him a good and adequate referee for the Champions Cup final; his latest refereeing performance in particular was not so great.
4 Go to commentsJordie knows that he has to earn the right to put on the jersey, whatever that jersey might be.
6 Go to commentsThe best outside centre in the world at one point. He will be greatly missed.
3 Go to commentsYip his great for the big moments when needed as a safa really enjoy watching him
4 Go to commentsOne that will start to come up from now on is penalties for back pushes during kick chase scrambles. Very difficult to detect. In Croke Park if you replay the Hendy NH try, you will see Furbank push Porter in the back, who collides with Larmour knocking the ball across into Hendy’s path to dot down. A more significant example was in the RWC QTR final where Arendse pushes Fickou into two other French players for the ball to spill into Arendse’s path for him to gather and run in to score SAs first try. Not cheating if you are not caught and very difficult to spot but with kicking becoming so critical I feel its an area that will referreeed/TMO-ed more.
4 Go to commentsWhat a pathetic little twit Andy Goode is, as if we care what he thinks…..😂
132 Go to commentsFoxy has been a wonderful player for the Scarlets and Wales.
3 Go to commentsNika the Georgian is the best referee in the world at the moment. Luckily we will be spared the shite SH refs and Barnes will hopefully remain retired given how shite and embarrassing he was at the RWC.
4 Go to comments