Leicester confirm Manu Tuilagi departure
England centre Manu Tuilagi has left Leicester Tigers, the Gallagher Premiership club have confirmed.
Chief executive Andrea Pinchen confirmed that England stars Tuilagi and Kyle Eastmond, and also Telusa Veainu, Greg Bateman and Noel Reid have left the Welford Road club.
Leicester set their players a deadline of Tuesday evening to sign new deals on reduced terms, to reflect the impact of the coronavirus pandemic and also the upcoming salary cap reductions.
And British and Irish Lions star Tuilagi heads the cast-list of players who refused to accept the wage cuts, and have therefore left the east Midlands club.
Tuilagi has 43 England caps and one for the Lions, and is approaching his peak at 29.
The Samoa-born centre will be able to command a sizeable contract in either France or Japan, and his Leicester team-mate Veainu will doubtless be in similar demand.
Asked to name the departing players, Pinchen told Leicester’s club website: “Our fans deserve to know: Manu Tuilagi, Telusa Veainu, Greg Bateman, Noel Reid and Kyle Eastmond.”
A Leicester statement on Wednesday morning had confirmed a “small number” of players would be leaving the Tigers.
Asked to explain where contract negotiations broke down, Pinchen continued: “We had asked staff and players very early on, because there was no income coming in, to take a 25 per cent reduction in pay across the board.
“Everyone bought into that, the players agreed to that. Then as we find out more and more, go through the process, and look at what central funding reduction is going to happen.
“If we do play behind closed doors until January, we realised we needed to make some real big cuts, that are, let’s be honest, primarily wrapped up in players’ salaries.
“Players were asked, for season 2021 only, to take a reduction of 25 per cent, with an opportunity later down the line to claw back half of that amount, and to sign an agreement to say they wouldn’t reserve their rights. But they wouldn’t accept this.
Another England player speaks out in support of Swing Low, Sweet Chariot.https://t.co/dd3ZwAumO7
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) July 1, 2020
“Some were offered new contracts that weren’t acceptable to them, others chose to not come on board with that.”
Pinchen also confirmed Leicester have made 31 staff redundant, having suffered losses of £5million already due to the pandemic fallout.
Former England captain and coach Steve Borthwick will have endured a testing first day in his new role as Tigers head coach, with rugby director Geordan Murphy also feeling the pinch of the high-profile departures.
Wishing the departing players well for the future, Pinchen added: “There’s no blame game here, this is people we’re talking about.
Director of rugby Pat Lam described Dickinson as 'the standout candidate' for the role.https://t.co/LVh2l3Khej
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) July 1, 2020
“Everyone has their own circumstances, and own thoughts about what they can or can’t do, or will or won’t do.
“What’s vital now is that we have a squad that’s all on board, believes in what we’re doing moving forward, and starts to push forward.
“If some couldn’t (do that), then we wish them well, shake them by the hand, metaphorically because of Covid, and wish them well for the next chapter. It’s really no more or less sinister than that.
“It’s simply that we had to go down one path. The majority of people are going down that path with us. And a handful couldn’t.”
Comments on RugbyPass
Thanks Brett, love your articles which are alway pertinent. It’s a difficult topic trying to have a panel adjudicating consistently penalties for red card issues. Many of the mitigating reasons raised are judged subjectively, hence the different outcomes. How to take away subjective opinions?
3 Go to commentsYes Sir! Surprising, just like Fraser would also have escaped sanction if he was a few inches lower, even if it was by accident that he missed! Has there really been talk about those sanctions or is this just sensational journalism? I stopped reading, so might have missed any notations.
3 Go to commentsAI is only as good as the information put in, the nuances of the sport, what you see out the corner of the eye, how you sum up in a split second the situation, yes the AI is a tool but will not help win games, more likely contribute to a loss, Rugby Players are not robots, all AI can do if offer a solution not the solution. AI will effect many sports, help train better golfers etc.
45 Go to commentsIt couldn’t have been Ryan Crotty. He wasn’t selected in either World Cup side - they chose Money Bill instead. And Money Bill only cared about himself, and that manager he had, not the team.
25 Go to commentsYawn 🥱 nobody would give a hoot about this new trophy. End of the day we just have to beat Ireland and NZ this year then they can finally shut up 🤐
13 Go to commentsTalking bout Ryan Crotty? Heard Crotty say in a interview once that SBW doesen't care about the team . He went on to say that whenever they lost a big game, SBW would be happy as if nothing happened, according to him someone who cares would look down.. Personally I think Crotty is in the wrong, not for feeling gutted but for expecting others 2 be like him… I have been a bad loser forever as it matters so much to me but good on you SBW for being able to see the bigger picture….
25 Go to commentsThis sounds like a WWE idea so Americans can also get excited about rugby, RUGBY NEEDS A INTERNATIONAL CALENDER .. The rugby Championship and Six Nations can be held at same time, top 3 of six nations and top 3 of Rugby championship (6 nations should include Georgia AND another qualifying country while Fiji, Japan and Samoa/Tonga qualifier should make out 6 Southern teams).. Scrap June internationals and year end tours. Have a Elite top six Cup and the Bottom 6 in a secondary comp….
13 Go to commentsThe rugby championship would be even stronger with Fiji in it… I know it doesen’t fit the long term plans of NZ or Aus but you are robbing a whole nation of being able to see their best players play for Fiji…. Every second player in NZ and AUS teams has Fijian surnames… shame on you!!! World rugby won’t step in either as France and England has now also joined in…. I guess where money is involved it will always be the poor countries missing out….
84 Go to commentsNo surprise there. How hard can it be to pick a ball off the ground and chuck it to a mate? 😂
2 Go to commentsSometimes people just like a moan mate!
3 Go to commentsexcellent idea ! rugby needs this 💪
13 Go to comments9 Brumbies! What a joke! The best performing team in Oz! Ditch Skelton for Swain or Neville. Ryan Lonergan ahead of McDermott any day! Best selection bolter is Toole … amazing player
12 Go to commentsI like this, but ultimately rugby already has enough trophies. Trying to make more games “consequential" might prove to be a fools errand, although this is a less bad idea than some others. Minor quibble with the title of the article; it isn’t very meaningful to say the boks are the unofficial world champions when it would be functionally impossible for the Raeburn trophy not to be held by the world champions. There’s a period of a few months every 4 years when there is no “unofficial” world champion, and the Raeburn trophy is held by the actual world champions.
13 Go to commentsIts a great idea but one that I dont think will have a lot of traction. It will depend on the prestige that they each hold but if you can do that it would be great. When Japan beat the Boks (my team) I was absolutely devestated but I wont deny the great game they played that day. We were outclassed and it was one of the best games of rugby I have seen. Using an idea like this you might just give the the underdog teams more of an opportunity to beat the big teams and I can absolutely see it being a brilliant display of rugby. They beat us because they planned for that game. It was a great moment for Japan. This way we can remove the 4 year wait and give teams something to aim for outside of World Cup years.
13 Go to commentsHi, Dave here. Happy to answer questions 🥰
13 Go to commentsDon’t think that headline is accurate. It’s great to see Aus doing better but I’m not sure they’ve shown much threat to the top of the table. They shouldn’t be inflating wins against the lousy Highlanders and Crusaders either.
3 Go to commentsSuch a shame Roigard and Aumua picked up long term injuries, probably the two form players in the comp. Also, pretty sure Clarke Dermody isn’t their coach. Got it half right though.
3 Go to commentsOh the Aussie media, they never learn. At least Andrew Kellaway is like “Woah, yeah it’s great, but settle down there guys” having endured years of the Aussie media, fans, and often their players getting ahead of themselves only to fall flat on their faces. Have the “We'll win the Bledisloe for sure this year!” headlines started yet? It’s simple to see what’s going on. The Aussie teams are settled, they didn't lose any of their major players overseas. The Crusaders and Chiefs lost key experienced All Blacks, and Razor in the Crusaders case, and clearly neither are anywhere near as strong as last year (The Canes and Blues would probably be 3rd & 4th if they were). The Highlanders are annually average, even more so post-Aaron Smith and a big squad clean out. The two teams at the top? The two nz sides with largely the same settled roster as last year, except Ardie Savea for the Canes. They’ve both got far better coaches now too. If the Aussies are going to win the title, this is the year the kiwi sides will be weakest, so they better take their chance.
3 Go to commentsThe World Cup has to be the gold standard, line in the sand. 113 teams compete for what is the opportunity to make the pool stages, and then the knockout games for the trophy. The concept is sound. This must have been the rationale when the World Cup was created, surely? But I’m all for Looking forward and finding new ways for the SH to dominate the NH into the future. The autumn series needs a change up. Let’s start by having the NH teams come south every odd year for the Autumn/Spring series games?
13 Go to commentsWhat’ll happen when the AI models of the future go back in time and try to destroy the AI models of the past standing in their way of certain victory?
45 Go to comments