Manu Tuilagi gives England's Six Nations hopes a timely boost
Manu Tuilagi has given England a pre-Six Nations boost by returning from injury for Leicester’s European Challenge Cup clash against Pau.
The Tigers centre has missed three games due to a groin injury but he will captain Leicester in south-west France on Saturday.
Leicester have already won Pool Five and secured a quarter-final place, yet a top-four seeding is their quest at Stade du Hameau.
Fit-again Wales Six Nations squad member Jonah Holmes is on the bench, with Tigers’ replacements also including England prop Dan Cole.
“We’ve rotated the squad and shared opportunities for game-time throughout the Challenge Cup, and the guys have done very well so far,” Leicester head coach Geordan Murphy said.
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RugbyPass talk to England and Leicester centre Manu Tuilagi about all things Lions
“This is a really good opportunity for us to gain experience in France and to try to build on the performances we’ve had in the last few weeks.”
If Pau win, it would leave them firmly in the last-eight mix as a potential best runner-up qualifier, and knock Cardiff Blues out of contention.
Welsh challengers the Blues and Scarlets have hopes of progressing, with both sides effectively needing bonus-point victories.
Not much tea and sympathy out there for Saracens https://t.co/vJS1ZP9seG
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) January 17, 2020
The Blues host Italian minnows Calvisano and Scarlets visit London Irish on Saturday in pursuit of remaining runners-up qualification spots, with Blues also requiring a Leicester victory.
Four of the five groups have already produced winners and confirmed quarter-finalists in Leicester, Bristol, Toulon and Bordeaux-Begles.
Two from three in Pool One – Castres, Worcester and Dragons – are also set to progress, while Edinburgh will confirm a knockout place if, as expected, they beat Murrayfield visitors Agen on Saturday.
A five-point maximum for Scarlets at the Madejski Stadium should be enough, although added security would arrive courtesy of Leicester beating Pau.
Bristol should progress as top seeds if they beat Zebre in Italy. “The win is vital to us, and we’ve put ourselves in a position where all we need is a win,” Bristol rugby director Pat Lam told the club’s official website.
“We only have to look back at last year and what happened, where we were very disappointing and lost to Zebre over there. So, we’ve referenced that game this week. It’s a big motivation to ensure we get the job done.”
Elsewhere, already-eliminated Wasps host Bordeaux in Pool Three, while Toulon entertain Bayonne and Stade Francais visit Brive.
– Press Association
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Comments on RugbyPass
Why cant I watch Rugby games please?
1 Go to commentsBeautiful shot from Finau, end of story. Gutted for Shaun Stevenson though.
4 Go to commentsThe Chiefs definitely didn’t win ugly. They had the superior scrum, a dominant lineout, and their defence was excellent once the Waratahs scored their two tries (thanks to some lucky refereeing calls mind you). They put pressure on the Waratahs lineout throughout the game, and the mind boggles as to why the referee did not award a yellow card or a penalty try against the Waratahs for repeated scrum infringements on their own try line before Narawa’s first try. And the Chiefs were slick with their passing and running angles on attack. It was a dominant performance all round, even with many questionable refereeing decisions.
1 Go to commentsWasnt late. Ref 2 assistants andTMO all saw it so who are you to say it was?
4 Go to commentsAre the Brumbies playing the Blues twice in a row?
4 Go to commentsBig difference from the Saders. Forwards really muscled up and laid a solid platform. Scooter brought some steel and I liked the loosie combination. Newell has been rather disappointing this season but stepped up big time - happy also to see Franks dot down. He should do that more often! Reihana had a good game and there seems to be more flair and invention with him in the saddle. McNicoll plays well from the back and is reliable plus inventive when he joins the line. Keep it up chaps!
3 Go to comments🤦♂️🤣 who cares who’s the best . All I know is the All Blacks have the star coach but have few star players now …
30 Go to commentsJe suis sûr que Farrell est impatient de jouer avec Lopez et Machenaud et d’être entraîné par Collazo… 🤭
1 Go to commentsAn on field red (aka a full red) in SRP must surely carry a bigger suspension than a red card given by the bunker as that carries a 20 minute team punishment. Had Damon Murphy abdicated his responsibility as a ref and issued both Drua players a yellow, which would have been upgraded to a 20 minute red by the bunker, that would have killed Australia and New Zealand’s push for the 20 minute red to be trialled globally from July this year.
11 Go to commentsEver so often you all post a Danny Care story that isn’t the announcement that he has finally re-signed for one more, victory tour season at Quins and I’m just like, “well you fooled me again!” My absolute favorite player ever, we need to make his final year at the Stoop (and Twickers) official already. I know he supposedly snubbed France but I won’t feel better until he signs.
1 Go to commentslate hit what late hit it wasn’t at all late and can clearly see he was committed before the tackle
4 Go to commentsChristian Lio -Willies 2 try perfomance was a standout. As was captain Scott Barrett. Up front was where the boys won it.They are a great team and players. Fantastic Crusaders , you can keep going.
3 Go to commentsI don't know how the locals feel about that? I guess if you call yourselves the Worcester Wasps that might be appease. But really we need more teams in the Premiership in my view so they are not padding it out as they are at the moment. It might curtail so many players going abroad as well
5 Go to commentsNZ 😭😭😭is certainly rivaling England for best whingers cup!😭😭😭 !!!
30 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
30 Go to commentsShould've done this years ago. Change Saturday kick off times to around 11am. Up and off and back home before 3pm, limit travel time too. Allows players to actually do something else with their Saturday that's family oriented or being rugby fans they could ‘watch’ pro rugby. Increases crowds etc. How can anyone that enjoys grassroots and pro rugby have to choose between the two on Saturdays?
9 Go to commentsI bet he inspired those supporters just as much.
1 Go to commentsBen Smith Springboks living rent free in his head 😊😂
67 Go to commentsGood to hear he would like to play the game at the highest level, I hadn’t been to sure how much of a motivator that was before now. Sadly he’s probably chosen the rugby club to go to. Try not to worry about all the input about how you should play rugby Joey and just try to emulate what you do on the league field and have fun. You’ll limit your game too much (well not really because he’s a standard athlete like SBW and he’ll still have enough) if you’re trying to make sure you can recycle the ball back etc. On the other hard, you can totally just try and recycle by looking to offload any and everywhere if you’re going to ground 😋
1 Go to commentsThis just proves that theres always a stat and a metric to use to justify your abilities and your success. Ben did it last week by creating an imaginary competition and now you did the same to counter his argument and espouse a new yardstick for success. Why not just use the current one and lets say the Boks have won 4 world cups making them the most successful world cup team. Outside of the world cup the All Blacks are the most successful team winning countless rugby championships and dominating the rankings with high win percentages. Over the last 4 years statistically the Irish are the best having the highest win rate and also having positive records against every tier 1 side. The most successful Northern team in the game has been England with a world cup title and the most six nations titles in history. The AB’s are the most dominant team in history with the highest win rate and 3 world cups. Lets not try to reinvent the wheel. Just be honest about the actual stats and what each team has been good at doing and that will be enough to define their level of success.
30 Go to comments