Newcastle Red Bulls to face returning might of Posolo Tuilagi

Perpignan will welcome back one of their most powerful weapons this weekend, with Posolo Tuilagi set to make his return from injury against Newcastle Red Bulls in the Challenge Cup.

The France lock has been sidelined since late November after suffering an injury to his left knee but the 6’4, 149kg second-row is now fit again and has been named on the bench for Saturday’s Pool fixture at Kingston Park.

Tuilagi’s return comes at a timely moment for Perpignan. The Catalans moved off the foot of the Top 14 table last weekend with a morale-boosting 30–27 win over Stade Toulousain.

Attention is already turning to a crucial relegation showdown with Montauban later this month, making the reintroduction of the 21-year-old a significant development.

Capped five times by France, Tuilagi has endured a stop-start spell over the past two seasons. A double fracture of his left tibia and fibula against Clermont in September 2024 sidelined him for seven months.

A stress fracture then ruled him out on the eve of the current Top 14 campaign. He broke down again in November following the autumn Test window.

His lack of availability led to public criticism earlier this season from head coach Laurent Labit, who questioned the second row’s conditioning.

Tuilagi has managed just ten appearances so far in 2025.

Saturday’s match offers an opportunity to rebuild momentum in a competition where Perpignan claimed their first win of the season in December against the Dragons.

For their part, Newcastle Red Bulls are aiming to extend their unbeaten EPCR Challenge Cup run. A win would seal round-of-16 qualification with a game to spare, ahead of a final pool trip to the Dragons RFC.

Tim Cardall and Seb de Chaves start in the second row, Oscar Usher shifts to blindside, Ethan Grayson replaces injured Brett Connon at fly-half, and Oli Spencer comes onto the wing.

“It was really pleasing to get our first Gallagher PREM win as Newcastle Red Bulls, and I was delighted for the lads,” said head coach Alan Dickens. “We’ve now won three out of our last five in all competitions with beating Lyon and Lions in the Challenge Cup, and we got a four-try bonus point away to a good Bristol Bears side in the league, so it feels like it’s gradually starting to come together.

“We’ve moved on quickly and switched the focus to Perpignan on Saturday, because the Challenge Cup is a massive opportunity for us.

“It’s a chance to really push on after making a positive start to the competition, and with Perpignan at home and Dragons away we’ve got two tough games to get our teeth into.

“We want to be playing knockout rugby rather than having free weekends towards the end of the season, and ultimately you’re in professional sport to win silverware.

“Perpignan won’t make it easy and they battled back well to beat Toulouse last weekend, so we’re expecting a good contest. They’ve got a big pack of forwards and some athletes in the backs, and we’ll have to be on it to get the result.”

NEWCASTLE RED BULLS: 15 Elliott Obatoyinbo, 14 Christian Wade, 13 Alex Hearle, 12 Sammy Arnold, 11 Oli Spencer, 10 Ethan Grayson, 9 Simón Benítez Cruz, 1 Murray McCallum, 2 George McGuigan (capt), 3 Richard Palframan, 4 Tim Cardall, 5 Seb de Chaves, 6 Oscar Usher, 7 Tom Christie, 8 Tom Gordon.

Replacements: 16 Ollie Fletcher, 17 Adam Brocklebank, 18 Luan de Bruin, 19 Finn Baker, 20 Cameron Neild, 21 James Elliott, 22 Cameron Hutchison, 23 Nathan Greenwood.

PERPIGNAN: 15 Lucas Dubois, 14 Jordan Petaia, 13 Job Poulet, 12 Duncan Paia’aua, 11 Maxim Granell, 10 Hugo Reus, 9 Tom Ecochard, 1 Bruce Devaux, 2 Victor Montgaillard, 3 Pietro Ceccarelli, 4 Peceli Yato, 5 Adrien Warion, 6 Bastien Chinarro, 7 Mahamadou Diaby, 8 Lucas Velarte.

Replacements: 16 Mathys Lotrian, 17 Lorencio Boyer Gallardo, 18 Nemo Roelofse, 19 Posolo Tuilagi, 20 Mathieu Tanguy, 21 Andro Dvali, 22 Gela Aprasidze, 23 Gabin Kretchmann.