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Manu Tuilagi explains 'sort of smiling and laughing' red card reaction
Manu Tuilagi has revealed his light-hearted reaction to Saturday night’s third-minute banishment of Tom Curry. The flanker was yellow carded for head-on-head contact with Juan Cruz Mallia that was soon upgraded to a red, the third time in four matches that England had a sin-binning upgraded by the foul play review officer.
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Curry’s exit appeared set to leave the underdog England facing an opening-round Rugby World Cup defeat. However, they instead caused an upset, finding the determination to boss the breakdown and emerge with a fully deserved 27-10 success despite being a man short for 77 minutes.
Asked for his reaction about Curry getting sent from the field, Tuilagi explained: “I was sort of smiling and laughing. No, because we have had a tough preparation. We have a lot of challenges that life has thrown towards us but just because we have a lot of challenge doesn’t mean it is going to stop.
“But that’s life, that’s life. You have just got to find a way to deal with it. Tomorrow is going to be different; a new day, a new challenge and so on. We talked about the belief and the trust. You have got to trust each other.
“We worked hard on it. We said just commit to it and be on the same page in terms of not being in no man’s land. But the effort is the most important thing. We said, 80 minutes of our lives, give it all you have got.”
Steve Borthwick's response to the cards in Marseille, the red for England flanker Tom Curry and the yellow for Argentina out-half Santiago Carreras. #EnglandRugby #ENGvARG #RWC2023 pic.twitter.com/fiUZaksKbf
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) September 10, 2023
They successfully did and while Tuilagi admitted to smiling/laughing at the challenge England were given when Curry was sanctioned, he added that his Sale teammate was naturally distraught with his red card.
“He’s gutted, as you would. He’s a human being, so it’s for us to get around him and make sure he is okay. Now we have just got to wait and see, not make any conclusion. We just wait and see what comes of the red card,” he said.
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Curry’s exit left England a forward short at the scrum and they tackled that imbalance by getting Tuilagi to pack down and fill the vacancy. “Loved it. I loved it,” he charmed before recalling he had done it previously 12 years ago
“I think once before. Against Ireland, I think it was 2011; I loved it. So when Tommy (Harrison, England scrum coach) was onto me during the week, he was, ‘If something happens, will you get in the scrum?’ I was, ‘Yes. YES!’”
The unexpected big win over Argentina has now finally drawn a line under head coach Steve Borthwick’s unimpressive nine-game England tenure prior to Saturday’s 10th-outing success in Marseille. Tuilagi was chuffed for the staff but warned England must be on their game when they face Japan next weekend in Nice.
“Those guys work so hard. No one works harder than Steve. For us to put a performance in for Steve, Kevin (Sinfield) and Richard (Wigglesworth), for the whole team and the fans, that will never change and tomorrow we go again, get to work again.
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“We prepare as a team. We know Japan is going to be a massive threat so we have got to recover and make sure we get our bodies right again and get the plan. They are very good. We know that Japan like to play, they like to move the ball around. As a backline, we just need to stay connected.”
Comments on RugbyPass
I guess we may all agree on the fact, that the ABs and Boks are the two in contest for No 1 in rugby history (the triple-A sort of) …. the Wallabies, England and France are the next tier, with Ireland being the new kid in town (AA) …. in my view it makes little sense creating imaginary competitions (unless you have too much time to waste)
41 Go to commentsWhat a joke. Total joke and the pundits commentating, all of whom know a bit about the game, could barely disguise their contempt. Reaching for the card then pulling back when he realised a red card would carry further match suspensions is simply not his decision to make. A clear and obvious influence on the outcome of this match and indeed, the championship path.
2 Go to commentsI like the idea, in NZ the Ranfurly Shield and NPC coexist, both having their own bragging rights. The World Cup would be the pinnacle, but the competition and travels of these trophies would be interesting.
41 Go to commentsDon’t worry Sonny bill Williams leave that awkward situation about the curfew in the pass whoever it was it doesn’t matter its no big deal we back our All Blacks through the storm and the thunder until we see the Sun light again.
42 Go to commentsWho listens to this retard? He was a massive liability as a player but obviously a media sensation
42 Go to commentsI’m not surprised by such ‘virtue signalling’ by Sonny Boy. Butter wouldn’t melt in his mouth. He’s such a pious Islamic muppet, imo.
42 Go to commentsI’ve actually never heard of the guy (then I don’t watch League as it is boring). But if he is good enough.. then good luck to him. If not, well, he can always return to league.
2 Go to commentsIt is pretty clear that by almost any measure that NZ are a more successful rugby nation than South Africa. Quite aside from the distasteful events during the last RWC final. NZ lead SA in all significant measurements.
41 Go to commentsDickson went to his pocket for a card, saw who it was, changed his mind and spoke at length to TMO. One angle clearly shows Care diving over a Saints player to kill the ball. 1st yellow, reason given for not Red was player was falling backwards. He was only falling backwards after contact with Lawes. Graham try should have stood. Mitchell did not have both hands on the ball, ball went forward from a Saints boot dragging over it. 2 intentional knock-on's. One of which had an overlap on the outside. If Quins are happy to win by intentional foul play, then it does not say much for them. Would appear to be a bad day for Karl Dickson, also for the RFU in appointing a Ref who spent 8 years as a player at one of the clubs.
2 Go to commentsLet’s not forget about Ardie Savea just yet.
4 Go to commentsThe URC and the Euro Championscup can’t run at the same time, basically dilutes both competitions.
1 Go to comments“While Sotutu should start at No.8 for the All Blacks against England, but it’s only in that arena that he can prove just how good he really is.” And that my friends is where simply hasnt shone despite multiple opportunities. Even in this performance you can see what did him in in the test arena..he almost always still runs at the opposition almost ramrod upright making him easier to stop than it should be.
4 Go to commentsShould have been 0-0 and a message from SR CEO to both teams - “don’t worry about turning up next year”.
4 Go to commentsGreat work Owen Franks. A great of this team, scoring his first try for the Crusaders since 2010.He was beaming, justifiably. A fine win, he and the rest did the job up front.
1 Go to commentsDanny Care. Lang in die tand.
1 Go to commentsBig empty stadium does nothing for atmosphere but munster are playing well with solid performance
1 Go to commentsYes, Fiji can win the World Cup! With that belief plus their christian faith🙏 and hard work it is achievable. Great article. Ian Duncan Fiji resident 1981-84
2 Go to commentsInteresting comments about Touch. England’s hosting the Touch World Cup this year and the numbers have exploded since their last World Cup in 2019, something like 70% more teams and 40 nations taking part. And England Touch have made a big thing about how many universities are in their BUCS University Touch Championship as well as Sport England membership. Can only see this growing even more domestically as more people become aware of it
10 Go to comments“Cortez Ratima is light years ahead of anyone on current form, while TJ Perenara has also skyrocketed into contention following the unfortunate injury to the talented Cam Roigard.” At last some sanity. Hitherto so many pundits have been wittering on about Finlay Christie to the point one wondered if they were observing a FC in a parallel universe where the FC they saw wasnt just the mediocre Shayne Philpott project of Fosters hapless AB reign in the real world. Ratima, Perenara and Fakatava are the ONLY logical 9s for Razor now Roigard is crocked.
4 Go to commentsThis game was just as painful as the Hurricanes game. It was real fork-in-the-eye stuff.
4 Go to comments