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Leicester confirm Manu Tuilagi departure

By AAP
Manu Tuilagi has left Leicester Tigers.

England centre Manu Tuilagi has left Leicester Tigers, the Gallagher Premiership club have confirmed.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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“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.

“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.”

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Trevor 2 hours ago
Will forgotten Wallabies fit the Joe Schmidt model?

Thanks Brett.. At last a positive article on the potential of Wallaby candidates, great to read. Schmidt’s record as an international rugby coach speaks for itself, I’m somewhat confident he will turn the Wallaby’s fortunes around …. on the field. It will be up to others to steady the ship off the paddock. But is there a flaw in my optimism? We have known all along that Australia has the players to be very competitive with their international rivals. We know that because everyone keeps telling us. So why the poor results? A question that requires a definitive answer before the turn around can occur. Joe Schmidt signed on for 2 years, time to encompass the Lions tour of 2025. By all accounts he puts family first and that’s fair enough, but I would wager that his 2 year contract will be extended if the next 18 months or so shows the statement “Australia has the players” proves to be correct. The new coach does not have a lot of time to meld together an outfit that will be competitive in the Rugby Championship - it will be interesting to see what happens. It will be interesting to see what happens with Giteau law, the new Wallaby coach has already verbalised that he would to prefer to select from those who play their rugby in Australia. His first test in charge is in July just over 3 months away .. not a long time. I for one wish him well .. heaven knows Australia needs some positive vibes.

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Bull Shark 6 hours ago
Jake White: Are modern rugby players actually better?

Of the rugby I’ve born witness to in my lifetime - 1990 to date - I recognize great players throughout those years. But I have no doubt the game and the players are on average better today. So I doubt going back further is going to prove me wrong. The technical components of the game, set pieces, scrums, kicks, kicks at goal. And in general tactics employed are far more efficient, accurate and polished. Professional athletes that have invested countless hours on being accurate. There is one nation though that may be fairly competitive in any era - and that for me is the all blacks. And New Zealand players in general. NZ produces startling athletes who have fantastic ball skills. And then the odd phenomenon like Brooke. Lomu. Mcaw. Carter. Better than comparing players and teams across eras - I’ve often had this thought - that it would be very interesting to have a version of the game that is closer to its original form. What would the game look like today if the rules were rolled back. Not rules that promote safety obviously - but rules like: - a try being worth 1 point and conversion 2 points. Hence the term “try”. Earning a try at goals. Would we see more attacking play? - no lifting in the lineouts. - rucks and break down laws in general. They looked like wrestling matches in bygone eras. I wonder what a game applying 1995 rules would look like with modern players. It may be a daft exercise, but it would make for an interesting spectacle celebrating “purer” forms of the game that roll back the rules dramatically by a few versions. Would we come to learn that some of the rules/combinations of the rules we see today have actually made the game less attractive? I’d love to see an exhibition match like that.

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