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The 35 stone midfield Sale Sharks will unleash when Tuilagi signs
England centre Manu Tuilagi will become part of one of the heaviest midfield partnerships in the Gallagher Premiership when he signs for Steve Diamond’s Sale Sharks.
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Sale are set to confirm his capture later today, a week after Director of Rugby Diamond denied the club had spoken to the star centre, who has left Leicester Tigers after failing to agree a new cut price contract. It was widely reported that Tuilagi was attempting to come to an agreement with Tigers, but the club effectively shut the door on his return when they officially confirmed he would not be playing for Tigers. Tuilagi, who had commanded a £480,000 pay packet at Welford Road, was unwilling to drop to the circa £360,000 a year figure the club wanted to cut him to.
Tuilagi’s signing now throws up a mouthwatering pairing with Rohan Janse Van Rensburg, a player many has been likened to a physical doppelganger to the blockbusting centre.
The average Premiership centre is a shade over six feet in height (184cm) and weighs an average of 100kg (15 stone 10Ibs). Tuilagi and RJVR both stand six foot tall and tip the scales at 110kg and 109kg respectively, a full 9kg plus (a stone and half) more than the average centre. Both play a similar brand of hard-running, physical rugby.
Together the pair will weigh in at at least 219kg, or 34.4 stone. Tuilagi is listed on Leicester’s website as 109.8kg, but he has been as high as 112kg in the past. The prospect of not one but two massive, gain line-busting centres lining out is one Sharks fans will look forward to – opposing defences not so much.
“I have always been the more bulkier guy in the team and there hasn’t been any weight training or power training – it is just the way I am built,” Van Rensburg told RugbyPass earlier this year. “I have to thank my parents for that.”
Van Rensburg regularly leads the metre making statistics at Sharks, a trait he brought over from the Lions in South Africa when he signed in 2018. By the end of round 7 of the current Gallagher Premiership season, Rensburg had beaten a league-leading 34 defenders.
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Meanwhile Tuilagi’s return to physical form has seen his running metres spike. The England centre made 93 metres against Tonga at the Rugby World Cup in Japan. Indeed, England head coach Eddie Jones nicknamed Tuilagi ‘pinball machine’ after his performance in England’s RWC 2019 warmup win over Wales.
Manu won’t be the first Tuilagi to grace the midfield for Sale Sharks of course, with older brother Anitelea earning 29 caps for the Sharks between 2008 and 2011.
Comments on RugbyPass
A wallaby front-row of Bell, Blake and Tupou…now that would be hefty
1 Go to comments“But with an exceptional pass accuracy rating “ Which apart from Roigard is not a feature of any of the other 9s in NZ. Kind of basic for a Black 9 dont.you. think? Yet we keep seeing FC and TJ being rated ahead of him? Weird if it’s seen as vital to get our backline beating in your face defences.
1 Go to commentsThanks BeeMc! Looks like many teams need extra time to settle from the quadrennial northern migration. I think generally the quality of the Rugby has held up. Fiji has been fantastic and fun to watch
13 Go to commentsLets compare apples with apples. Lyon sent weak team the week before, but nobody raised an eyebrow. Give the South African teams a few years to build their depth, then you will be moaning that the teams are too strong.
41 Go to commentsDid footballs agents also perform the scout role at some time? I’m surprised more high profile players haven’t taken up the occupation, great way to remain in the game and use all that experience without really requiring a lot of specific expertise?
1 Go to commentsSuper rugby is struggling but that has little to do with sabbaticals. 1. Too many teams from Aust and NZ - should be 3 and 4 respectively, add in 2 from Japan, 1 possibly 2 from Argentina. 2. Inconsistent and poor refereeing, admittedly not restricted to Super rugby. Only one team was reffed at the breakdown in Reds v H’Landers match. Scrum penalty awarded in Canes v Drua when No 8 had the ball in the open with little defence nearby - ideal opportunity to play advantage. Coming back to Reds match - same scrum situation but ref played advantage - Landers made 10 yards and were penalised at the breakdown when the ref should have returned to scrum penalty. 3. Marketing is weak and losing ground to AFL and NRL. Playing 2 days compared with 4. 4. Scheduling is unattractive to family attendance. Have any franchises heard of Sundays 2pm?
11 Go to commentsAbsolutely..all they need is a chance in yhe playoffs and I bet all the other teams will be nervous…THEY KNOW HOW TO WIN IM THE PLAYOFFS..
2 Go to commentsI really hope he comes back and helps out with some coaching.
1 Go to commentsI think we are all just hoping that the Olympic 7s doesn’t suffer the same sad fate as the last RWC with the officials ruining the spectacle.
1 Go to commentsPersonally, I’ve lost the will to even be bothered about the RFU, the structure, the participants. It’s all a sham. I now simply enjoy getting a group of friends together to go and watch a few games a year in different locations (including Europe, the championship, etc). I feel extremely sorry for the real fans of these clubs who are constantly ignored by the RFU and other administrators. I feel especially sorry for the fans of clubs in the Championship who have had considerable central funding stripped away and are then expected to just take whatever the RFU put to them. Its all a sham, especially if the failed clubs are allowed to return.
10 Go to commentsI’m guessing Carl Hayman would have preferred to have stayed in NZ with benefit of hindsight. Up north there is the expectation to play twice as many games with far less ‘player management’ protocols that Paul is now criticising. Less playing through concussions means longer, healthier, careers. Carter used as the eg here by Paul, his sabbatical allowed him to play until age 37. OK its not an exact science but there is far more expectations on players who sign for Top 14 or Engl Prem clubs to get value for the huge salaries. NZR get alot wrong but keeping their best players in NZ rugby is not one of them. SA clubs are virtually devoid of their top players now, no thanks. They cant threaten the big teams in the Champions Cup, the squads have little depth. Cant see Canes/Chiefs struggling. Super has been great this year, fantastic high skill matches. Drua a fantastic addition and Jaguares will add another quality team eventually. Aus teams performing strongly and no doubt will benefit with the incentive of a Lions tour and a home RWC. Let Jordie enjoy his time with Leinster, it will allow the opportunity for another player to emerge at Canes in his absence.
11 Go to commentsLove that man, his way to despise angry little men is so funny ! 😂
4 Go to comments“South African franchises would be powerhouses if we had all our overseas based players back in situ. We would have the same unbeatable aura the Toulouses, Leinsters or Saracens of this world have had over the last decade or so.” Proof that Jake white does not understand the economics of the game in SA. Players earning abroad are not going to simply come back and represent the bulls. But they might if they have a springbok contract.
24 Go to commentsA lot of fans just joined in for the fun of it! We all admire O'Gara and what he has done for La Rochelle
4 Go to commentsThe RFU will find a way to mess this up as usual. My bet is there will be no promotion into the the Premiership, only relegation into National League One. Hopefully they won’t parachute failed clubs into the league at the expense of clubs who have battled for promotion.
10 Go to commentsWell that’s the contracts for RG and Jordie bought and paid for. Now, what are the chances we can persuade Antoine to hop over with all the extra dosh we’ll have from living at the Aviva & Croke next season…??? 🤑🤑🤑
35 Go to commentsWow, that’s incredible. Great for rugby.
35 Go to commentsYou probably read that parling is going to coach the wallaby lineout but if not before now you have.
17 Go to commentsIf someone like Leo Cullen was in O’Gara’s place I don’t hear Boo-ing. It’s not just that La Rochelle has hurt Leinster and O’Gara is their Irish boss. It’s the needle that he brings and the pantomime activity before the game around pretending that Munster were supporting LaRochelle just because O’Gara is from Cork. That’s dividing Irish provinces just to get an advantage for his French Team. He can F*ck right off with that. BOOOOO! (but not while someone is lying injured)
4 Go to commentsDid the highlanders party too hard before the game? They were the pits.
1 Go to comments