It's just as well Leicester are practically safe as Manu Tuilagi to remain sidelined
Leicester have confirmed the worst regarding Manu Tuilagi – the centre won’t feature again for the Tigers this season.
Geordan Murphy’s side slipped to 11th spot following last weekend’s Welford Road loss. However, despite that defeat to Bristol, they are nine points clear of bottom side Newcastle with two games remaining.
With relegation now unlikely, there will be no rushing Tuilagi back into the fray for the closing fixtures versus Harlequins this Friday and against Bath on May 18.
“Manu will miss the rest of the season,” said Geordan Murphy as his weekly Tigers’ media conference. “He pulled his hamstring against Newcastle and that is a three or four-week injury, so he will be out until the season is done for us.”
The 27-year-old, who shunned a money-spinning offer from Racing 92 in March, had started three consecutive league matches following his return from Six Nations duty with England.
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His appearance in the vital win April 12 over Newcastle was his 17th of the season, his highest rate of availability since the 2012/13 season when he appeared on 21 occasions.
However, Tuilagi limped away from the Kingston Park nail-biter after 71 minutes with an injury that initial left Murphy uncertain of its seriousness.
The latest injury news… ?https://t.co/iwTt737fMS
— Mercury Tigers (@tigerslive) April 30, 2019
“We haven’t had a conclusive report on his hamstring yet, but Manu definitely did something to it so he will be out for a period of time. We’re just not sure how long that will be,” said the coach at the time.
“He has had hamstring injuries before so we are hoping we can speed that up and he will feature for us before the end of the season.”
Confirmation of Tuilagi’s stint on the sidelines coincided with Murphy admitting Kyle Eastmond is a doubt to challenge for a place in the Tigers midfield at the Stoop, but full-back Telusa Veainu came through his brief run-out against Bristol without any reaction.
“Kyle will be touch and go for the weekend,” Murphy continued. “He has made a really good recovery since his hamstring strain. It may be a few days too early to play but we are hoping he will be available for Friday.”
WATCH: Part three of the RugbyPass series on the Leicester Tigers academy
Comments on RugbyPass
Rest is for namby pamby sissies, I see. True men should overcome their trifling injuries by playing week in, week out. Bidwell’s stance reminds me of a Jon Gadsby character from the 70s, a rugby captain giving an after-match speech: “It was a very physical contest. One of our players caught a boot on the back of his head in a ruck, and he died, actually. But to his credit, he played on.”
1 Go to commentsI still see nothing in Sotutus play that hes changed his upright running style that failed so many times against decent international defences like the french. Other than that… Iose? Well you have covered his limitations well. If Sititi had been playing the the season… Jacobson? Grace?…Neither shout pick me. So Ardie it is.
1 Go to commentsThere isn’t one element you mentioned there that every top class or successful team gets up to. The great All blacks sides used to play on the ‘fringes or edge’ but it was essentially saying they were doing something illegal or borderline to gain dominance. The fine margins at the top are minute between the top sides. La Rochelle, the crusaders, Saracens, Toulon etc etc…..have all been accused. Get over it, the comment comes across as salty and naive. Northampton as well as they played to get back into the match were thoroughly beaten and controlled for 60 minutes and Leinster have only themselves to blame for kicking it away and hence losing control of the match and being nearly the architects of their own downfall.
2 Go to commentsThere is some talent coming thru thats for sure. The 10 looks special to me. Rico Simpson is a name to look for in the future.
1 Go to commentsI think this quiet honestly is just an innocent misunderstanding by someone who is pig sh*t stupid. Eben is a fine player but by christ, if he can’t understand or get what the Irish players were trying to say to him after the match…..well i hope he has someone looking after his finances, career and is reading the fine print for him, cause life after rugby may be quite difficult for the vacuous echo chamber.
27 Go to commentsIt could be Doris' day!
3 Go to commentsThe whole thing has blown up because Eben’s words have clearly struck a nerve in Ireland. Otherwise they would just laugh it off. I think some former Irish players, commentators and some Irish fans know deep down this Ireland team started to believe its own press and that a certain amount of arrogance had started to creep in during the World Cup. The topic was actually brought up by Irish pundits on Off the Ball recently. It’s fine to be arrogant if you can back it up. Ireland didn’t.
27 Go to comments‘The Irish are good people'. Why is Goode praising a people who hate his own? Wet wipe.
27 Go to commentsLa mejor final que se puede ver en el emisferio norte.
1 Go to commentsA lot of cope from south africans in the comments. Etzebeth is a liar and a hypocrite; you don’t have to defend him!
27 Go to commentsHe got big and really slow for a flyhalf…not sure he’s relevant in a bok conversation anymore
4 Go to commentsBest tourney team vs best team in the regular season for 3 games in RSA - talk is cheap, let’s see what’s what on the tour
27 Go to commentsOne overlooked statistic from their 2016 winning season is the Huricanes are still the only team in Super rugby history not to concede a try during the playoff rounds.
4 Go to commentsThanks for the article, Nick. The Nienaber blitz D does ask a lot of its scrumhalf. I have been watching JGP on D and he often looks like he has mastered what Nienaber asks for better than Faf de Klerk and Cobus Reinach! 🤣 Impressive season by JGP if I must make an understatement.
22 Go to commentsOkay last one. I promise. I think it’s despicable for Andy Goode to suggest that Eben can’t count to 12. To be fair he only had to count to 8 - the number of Irishmen who DIDN’T say that. Less the 3 kiwis of course. 23 - 12 - 3 = 8. See Joe. I can do maffs.
27 Go to commentsCheers, Nick! How do you see the Reds’ Jock Campbell’s play this year? Not as strong a carrier as Andrew Kellaway or Tom Wright, but does avoid errors. Do you see Joe Schmidt as wanting safety first at 15 or a try-assisting counterattacker?
91 Go to commentsI’m sure this was all just a big misunderstanding. Irishmen and Afrikaaners conversing in a noisey stadium. Not easy to get the right messages across. A minefield.
27 Go to commentsSay what you will about Andy Goode. But he is right about one thing… I’m not sure what that one thing is exactly… but I’m willing to hear him out.
27 Go to commentsAnother article to bait and trigger Irish fans. This must stop.
27 Go to commentsHi Nick. Thanks for your +++ ongoing analysis. Re Vunivalu, He’s been benched recently and it will be interesting to see what Kiss does with him as we enter the backend of SRP. I’m still not sold.
91 Go to comments