Manu Tuilagi is back at Welford Road this Saturday just two months after quitting Leicester
Manu Tuilagi is set to make his Welford Road return this Saturday just two months after the England midfielder was one of five players who refused to take a permanent wage cut at Leicester and left the club. Tuilagi, along with Telusa Veainu, Noel Reid, Greg Bateman and Kyle Eastmond, opted to exit the Tigers at the start of July rather than accept a proposed 25 per cent permanent pay cut.
He soon joined title-chasing Sale and will now make a return to Leicester after being named in the Sharks side looking to build on last weekend’s comfortable home win over title rivals Bristol.
Tuilagi posted a message to Leicester fans on July 14 after he had been unveiled as a Sale signing. “I would like to take this opportunity to convey our thanks to everybody at Leicester Tigers for all their love and support for the past eleven years,” he said.
“I’m very grateful for all the support and friendship from the coaches and all the staff at the club, but even more so to the remarkable supporters who make the Tigers such a unique special club. It has been an enormous honour and privilege for me and my family to be part of the history of one of the greatest rugby clubs in the world.
“The Tigers have always been so special to myself and my brothers for the past 20 years. I wish for nothing but the best for our Tigers family going forward. Everyone has their own pathway in life and I’m excited to see what the future holds.”
TEAM NEWS ? | It's the one we've been waiting for #SharksFamily ?
? The World's biggest centre partnership!? ?
?? Our wise and powerful leader is back…
? Luke James is on fire – Obviously. ????#SharkTime | @UKFast pic.twitter.com/nWMsQU4zVQ— Sale Sharks ? (@SaleSharksRugby) September 4, 2020
That future will see him partner Rohan Janse van Rensburg in the midfield at Welford Road in a selection that sees stand-in captain Ben Curry rotated after an impressive showing over the last two rounds. He is replaced at openside flanker by twin brother Tom, who is joined by club captain Jono Ross and Daniel du Preez in the back row.
Leicester, meanwhile, have opted for wholesale changes following last Sunday’s loss at Gloucester, Tomas Lavanini and Charlie Clare their only repeat starters to face Sale.
LEICESTER: 15. Freddie Steward; 14. David Williams, 13. Jaco Taute, 12. Matt Scott, 11. Nemani Nadolo, 10. George Ford (capt), 9. Ben Youngs; 1. Ellis Genge, 2. Charlie Clare, 3. Dan Cole, 4. Tomas Lavanini, 5. Calum Green, 6. Harry Wells, 7. Luke Wallace, 8. Hanro Liebenberg. Reps: 16. Jake Kerr, 17. Facundo Gigena, 18. Nephi Leatigaga, 19. Cameron Henderson, 20. Jordan Taufua, 21. Ben White, 22. Zack Henry, 23. Guy Porter.
SALE: 15. Luke James; 14. Denny Solomona, 13. Manu Tuilagi, 12. Rohan Janse van Rensburg, 11. Marland Yarde; 10. AJ MacGinty, 9. Faf de Klerk; 1. Coenie Oosthuizen, 2. Akker van der Merwe, 3. Jake Cooper-Woolley, 4. Jean-Luc du Preez, 5. Lood de Jager, 6. Jono Ross (capt) 7. Tom Curry, 8. Daniel du Preez. Reps: 16. Euan Ashman, 17. Valerey Morozov, 18. Will-Griff John, 19. Cameron Neild, 20. Matt Postlethwaite, 21. Will Cliff, 22. Sam James, 23. Arron Reed.
The Chiefs have been the best behaved since the restart, conceding just 39 penalties in 4 games compared to Bristol's 59https://t.co/cdfMOjEXeX
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Comments on RugbyPass
I think Matt Proctor became a 1 test AB in the same fixture. Cameron is quality and has been great this season, can’t believe’s he only 27. Realistically how would he not be selected for ABs squad this year. Only Dmac is ahead of him as a specialist 10. With Jordan out, it will come down to where and when Beauden Barrett slots back in, and where they want to play Ruben Love. Cameron seems an absolute lock in for the wider squad though. Added benefit of TJ-Cameron-Jordie combination at 9, 10, 11 too.
1 Go to commentsFarcical, to what end would someone want to pay to keep this thing going.
1 Go to commentsHavili, our best 12 by a mile, will be in the squad, if he stays fit. JB is the most overrated AB in the last 50 years.
61 Go to commentsWe had during the week twilight footy, twilight cricket, tw golf plus there was the athletics club. Then the weekend was rugby 15s plus the net ball, really busy club scene back then but so much has changed and rugby has suffered. And it was all about changing lifestyles.
6 Go to commentsIn the 70s and 80s my club ran 5 Senior sides plus a Vets. Now it is 2 sides with an occasional 3rd team. Players have difficulty getting to training now, not sure why and the commitment is not there. It seems to me more a problem of people applying themselves and not expecting to turn up and play whenever they want to.
6 Go to commentsROG’s contract is until 2027. The conversation about a successor to Galthie after RWC 2027 may be starting now. We can infer that Galthie’s reign stops then. He is throwing the Irish Coaching Job angle in because he is Irish. The next Irish coach MUST be Leo Cullen. As well as being the best coach available, coaching the vast majority of Irish Internationals week in week out, he has shown incredible skill at recruiting the best coaching staff for the job in hand. That was a failing in France. Cullen is a shrewd guy and if there is a need for foreign coaches underneath him he won’t hesitate. Rightly so. Ireland does need to start to bring Irish coaches through. Not just at the professional level but we need to train coaches to man new pathways for developing kids from schools/clubs up through the divisions.
8 Go to commentsNo Islam says it must rule where it stands Thus it is to be deleted from this planet Earth
18 Go to commentsThis team probably does not beat the ABs sadly Not sure if BPA will be available given his signing for Force but has to enter consideration. Very strong possibility of getting schooled by the AB props. Advantage AB. Rodda/Skelton would be a tasty locking combination - would love to see how they get on. Advantage Wallabies. Backrow a risk of getting out hustled and outmuscled by ABs. Will be interesting to see if the Blues feast on the Reds this weekend the way they did the Brumbies we are in big trouble at the breakdown. Great energy, running and defence but goalkicking/general kicking/passing quality in the halves bothers me enormously. SA may have won the World Cup for a lot of the tournament without a recognised goalkicker but Pollard in the final made a difference IMO. Injuries and retirements leave AB stocks a bit lighter but still stronger. 12 and 13 ABs shade it (Barret > Paisami, Ione = Ikitau, arguably) Interesting clash of styles on the wings - Corey Toole running around Caleb Clark and Caleb running over the top of Toole. Reece vs Koro probably the reverse. Pretty even IMO. 15s Kelleway = Love See advantage to ABs man for man, but we are not obviously getting slaughtered anywhere which makes a nice change. Think talent wise we are pretty even and if our cohesion and teamwork is better than the ABs then its just about doable.
11 Go to commentsCompletely agree. More friday night games would be a hit. RFU to make sure every club has a floodlit pitch. Club opens again Saturday to welcome touch / tag. Minis and youths on Sunday
6 Go to comments1.97m and 105Kg? Proportionately, probably skinnier than me at 1.82 and 82kilos. He won’t survive against the big guys at that weight.
55 Go to commentsThe value he brought to the crusaders as an assistant was equal to what he got out of being there. He reflected not only on the team culture but also the credit he attributed to the rugby community. Such experience shouldn’t be overlooked.
8 Go to commentsGood luck Aussie
11 Go to commentssmith at 9 / mounga 10 / laumape 12 / fainganuku 14
61 Go to commentsBar the injuries, it’s pretty much their top team …
2 Go to commentsDon’t disagree with much of this but it appears you forgot Rodda and Beale, who started at the Force on the weekend.
11 Go to commentsExcept for the injured Zach Gallagher this would be Saders best forward pack for the season. Blackadder needs to stay at 7, for all of Christies tackling he is not dominant and offers very little else. McNicholfullback is maybe a good option, Fihaki not really upto it, there was a reason Burke played there last year. Maybe Havilli to 2nd five McLeod to wing. Need a strong winger on 1 side to compliment Reece
1 Go to commentsTo me TJ is clearly the best 9 in the competition right now but he's also a proven player off the bench, there's few playmaking players who can come off the bench as calm and settled as he is, Beauden can, TJ can and I doubt any of the scrumhalves in contention can, if they want to experiment with new 9s I want him on the bench ready to step in if they crumble under the pressure. The Boks put their best front row on the bench, I'd like to see us take a similar approach, the Hurricanes have been doing similar things with players like Kirifi.
61 Go to commentsROG has better chance to win a WC if he starts training and make himself eligible as a player. He won’t make the Ireland squad but I reckon he may get close with Namibia (needs to improve his Afrikaans) or Portugal. Both sides had 1000:1 odds to win the RWC in 2023 which is an improvement on ROG’s odds of winning a RWC as a coach. Unlike Top 14 teams, national teams can’t go shopping and buy the best players - you work with the available talent pool and turn them into world beaters.
8 Go to commentsthat backline nope that backline is terrible why would you have sevu Reece when he’s not even top 5 wingers in the comp why have Blackadder when there’s better players no Scott barret isn’t an automatic the guy is more of a liability than anything why have him there when you have samipeni who’s far far better
61 Go to commentsAh, good to find you Nick. Agree with everything about Cale. So much to like about his game
55 Go to comments