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'When we signed Manu I thought it was great news... we will never have to tackle him again'

By Chris Jones
Manu Tuilagi (Getty Images)

AJ MacGinty cannot wait to unleash Manu Tuilagi on Gallagher Premiership leaders Bristol, but also knows he will have to try to stop English rugby’s most feared wrecking ball this summer.

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Third-placed Sale host leaders Bristol in a match that will have a significant impact on who has home advantage in the Premiership play-offs which makes Tuilagi’s return as a replacement after eight months out following an Achilles operation so important. While Tuilagi missed out on selection for the British and Irish Lions tour to South Africa this summer, he can expect to be involved in England’s July test matches which includes taking on the USA Eagles at Twickenham on July 4.

Dublin-born MacGinty is the Eagles outside half and told RugbyPass: “When we signed Manu (from Leicester) I thought at that time it was great news for every No10 at Sale Sharks because we will never have to tackle him again. Now, I could be playing against him for the Eagles and so I had better get my shoulders warmed up. It’s great to have him back playing for us and I am already having a few jokes with Manu about the Fourth of July match which is a special date for everyone in the States and I have never played at Twickenham or against Ireland at the Aviva Stadium (July 10). Hopefully, with fans back in then my family can be at the Ireland match.

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“Manu is just a brilliant guy, so humble and laid back. To see the way he has progressed through his rehab and how dedicated he has been to it has been an inspiration, particularly for the young guys. Despite the injury he had, Manu never came in grumpy and was always picking the lads up. To see him running in the last month has been great and the way he has maintained his weight and fitness – he is a phenomenal athlete and raring to go.

“As a back division we fancy ourselves with our physicality on top of our defensive system. It has grown throughout the season and we have been talking about Bristol about how any disconnection in defence will cause you trouble with players who have power and footwork and with Callum Sheedy pulling the strings in behind. We cannot look past the next opponent and start thinking about where we could finish. We won’t get distracted by all the noise and it is a challenging run and we are up for it against Bristol, Harlequins and Exeter.”

To prepare for an assault on the Gallagher Premiership title, Sale’s players were taken on a night time mountain march up Snowdon in North Wales under the direction of special forces experts. It was the latest idea by Alex Sanderson, the director of rugby, who is trying to challenge his squad in different ways. MacGinty enjoyed the march and the new ideas Sanderson is delivering and also has great respect for Pat Lam, the Bristol director of rugby, who coached him at Connacht.

MacGinty added: “When Pat was in Connacht it was my first year in professional rugby and we had a successful year and I was so raw. They gave me the tools to excel and I learnt so much as a No.10 about game plans from all of the staff at Connacht. I am always grateful for the opportunity they gave me and the time they invested in me.”

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The goal-kicking outside half is second in the Premiership points table with 166 and is a key figure in the 41-man initial US Eagles squad to face England and Ireland that features 10 players operating around the rugby world and 31 from the Major League Rugby franchises who are involved in the latest domestic season in America. While the USA Rugby organisation has been in and then out of bankruptcy, the MLR remains a growing brand, attracting high-profile players such as ex-England captain Chris Robshaw and Wallaby Matt Giteau.

MacGinty said: “The hope and the plan is for that league to go from strength to strength and the guys get more opportunities to play at a high level and push for places in the Eagles squad. This feels like a new beginning because we haven’t been together since the last pool match at the 2019 World Cup in Japan.

“We haven’t talked about the bankruptcy and the lads just want to get going again and I have been talking to Gary (Gold, Eagles head coach)about the summer tests and then the qualification matches for France 2023 and we want to go as America 1. We have a WhatsApp group with the Eagles and it has been great to see Titi (Lamasotole) win the European Challenge Cup with Montpellier and then David Ani’u win the Heienken Cup with Toulouse the next day .”

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Jon 1 hours ago
Jake White: Are modern rugby players actually better?

This is the problem with conservative mindsets and phycology, and homogenous sports, everybody wants to be the same, use the i-win template. Athlete wise everyone has to have muscles and work at the gym to make themselves more likely to hold on that one tackle. Do those players even wonder if they are now more likely to be tackled by that player as a result of there “work”? Really though, too many questions, Jake. Is it better Jake? Yes, because you still have that rugby of ole that you talk about. Is it at the highest International level anymore? No, but you go to your club or checkout your representative side and still engage with that ‘beautiful game’. Could you also have a bit of that at the top if coaches encouraged there team to play and incentivized players like Damian McKenzie and Ange Capuozzo? Of course we could. Sadly Rugby doesn’t, or didn’t, really know what direction to go when professionalism came. Things like the state of northern pitches didn’t help. Over the last two or three decades I feel like I’ve been fortunate to have all that Jake wants. There was International quality Super Rugby to adore, then the next level below I could watch club mates, pulling 9 to 5s, take on the countries best in representative rugby. Rugby played with flair and not too much riding on the consequences. It was beautiful. That largely still exists today, but with the world of rugby not quite getting things right, the picture is now being painted in NZ that that level of rugby is not required in the “pathway” to Super Rugby or All Black rugby. You might wonder if NZR is right and the pathway shouldn’t include the ‘amateur’, but let me tell you, even though the NPC might be made up of people still having to pull 9-5s, we know these people still have dreams to get out of that, and aren’t likely to give them. They will be lost. That will put a real strain on the concept of whether “visceral thrill, derring-do and joyful abandon” type rugby will remain under the professional level here in NZ. I think at some point that can be eroded as well. If only wanting the best athlete’s at the top level wasn’t enough to lose that, shutting off the next group, or level, or rugby players from easy access to express and showcase themselves certainly will. That all comes back around to the same question of professionalism in rugby and whether it got things right, and rugby is better now. Maybe the answer is turning into a “no”?

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j
john 4 hours ago
Will the Crusaders' decline spark a slow death for New Zealand rugby?

But here in Australia we were told Penney was another gun kiwi coach, for the Tahs…….and yet again it turned out the kiwi coach was completely useless. Another con job on Australian rugby. As was Robbie Deans, as was Dave Rennie. Both coaches dumped from NZ and promoted to Australia as our saviour. And the Tahs lap them up knowing they are second rate and knowing that under pressure when their short comings are exposed in Australia as well, that they will fall in below the largest most powerful province and choose second rate Tah players to save their jobs. As they do and exactly as Joe Schmidt will do. Gauranteed. Schmidt was dumped by NZ too. That’s why he went overseas. That why kiwi coaches take jobs in Australia, to try and prove they are not as bad as NZ thought they were. Then when they get found out they try and ingratiate themselves to NZ again by dragging Australian teams down with ridiculous selections and game plans. NZ rugby’s biggest problem is that it can’t yet transition from MCaw Cheatism. They just don’t know how to try and win on your merits. It is still always a contest to see how much cheating you can get away with. Without a cheating genius like McCaw, they are struggling. This I think is why my wise old mate in NZ thinks Robertson will struggle. The Crusaders are the nursery of McCaw Cheatism. Sean Fitzpatrick was probably the father of it. Robertson doesn’t know anything else but other countries have worked it out.

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A
Adrian 6 hours ago
Will the Crusaders' decline spark a slow death for New Zealand rugby?

Thanks Nick The loss of players to OS, injury and retirement is certainly not helping the Crusaders. Ditto the coach. IMO Penny is there to hold the fort and cop the flak until new players and a new coach come through,…and that's understood and accepted by Penny and the Crusaders hierarchy. I think though that what is happening with the Crusaders is an indicator of what is happening with the other NZ SRP teams…..and the other SRP teams for that matter. Not enough money. The money has come via the SR competition and it’s not there anymore. It's in France, Japan and England. Unless or until something is done to make SR more SELLABLE to the NZ/Australia Rugby market AND the world rugby market the $s to keep both the very best players and the next rung down won't be there. They will play away from NZ more and more. I think though that NZ will continue to produce the players and the coaches of sufficient strength for NZ to have the capacity to stay at the top. Whether they do stay at the top as an international team will depend upon whether the money flowing to SRP is somehow restored, or NZ teams play in the Japan comp, or NZ opts to pick from anywhere. As a follower of many sports I’d have to say that the organisation and promotion of Super Rugby has been for the last 20 years closest to the worst I’ve ever seen. This hasn't necessarily been caused by NZ, but it’s happened. Perhaps it can be fixed, perhaps not. The Crusaders are I think a symptom of this, not the cause

15 Go to comments
T
Trevor 8 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.

21 Go to comments
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