'The Chief's looked great... he's probably in the best physical shape I've ever seen him'
Ben Youngs has warned Ireland that Manu Tuilagi is in the shape of his life as England plot to launch the powerful centre on another decisive early raid.
Tuilagi’s bulldozing run straight from a lineout provided the launchpad for Jonny May to score in the second minute at the Aviva Stadium in February, igniting a stunning 32-20 victory over the defending Six Nations champions.
The rivals lock horns once again at Twickenham on Saturday when Tuilagi will be making his first start of the World Cup warm-up Tests having delivered impressive cameos in the two matches against Wales.
“Manu…. the Chief’s looked great. He’s probably in the best physical shape I’ve ever seen him,” said Youngs of his Leicester colleague, whose international career has been fragmented by injury.
“He’s certainly in a great head-space, loving every minute of being here, which is fantastic. He’s always happy, he’s buzzing around the place. He’s constantly enthusiastic and that rubs off on guys. I’m excited to see how he goes.
Incredibly candid stuff from England's Manu Tuilagi https://t.co/gSAF7QIlPJ
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) August 21, 2019
“We saw glimpses of it in the first two games, particularly the first Wales game with his carry, so we’ll try to get him into the game early against Ireland. Against Wales at Twickenham, everyone was running back saying ‘yours’.”
Providing additional firepower in the penultimate tune-up fixture before the World Cup opener against Tonga on September 22 are No8 Billy Vunipola and wing Joe Cokanasiga. But Youngs insists that simply sending them into heavy traffic in the hope of creating a hole is unlikely to have much impact.
“Manu, Billy, Big Joe – we are blessed with ball carriers, but they are only good if you give them the ball,” Youngs said. “Defences are so good now, they take your time and space away. Everyone can defend, so you can’t just be chucking them into brick walls all the time.
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“You have to give them opportunities one-on-one, where they can be most lethal. With the distributors we have and the subtle plays, we can do that. On paper, I believe we have one of the most threatening back lines we’ve seen with England. The forwards will give us the platform, it’s about making sure we use it well.”
Eddie Jones has reverted to picking twin playmakers George Ford and Owen Farrell for the first time in 14 months, while Henry Slade, who is first-choice at outside centre, recovers from a knee injury. “When you have George and Owen together, their distribution skills and the way they can manipulate defenders will make opportunities for Manu, Jonny May and others,” Youngs said.
“I’m very familiar with playing with both George and Owen and we’ll be able to attack a bit more. I’ll just focus on giving them the ball, getting them the ball in the right areas, and making sure my service is good.”
A win would propel Ireland to the summit of the world rankings just seven days after Wales climbed to the top – a position England missed out on by losing in Cardiff last weekend. You concentrate on yourselves, you know where you are,” Youngs said. “If you have got good momentum and the team is confident, you don’t need the rankings to tell us where we are as a team.”
– Press Association
WATCH: Maro Itojoe talks to RugbyPass ahead of England’s latest World Cup warm-up match
Comments on RugbyPass
I’m looking forward to attending the Twickenham match, I don’t think it will have a bearing on the outcome of the grand prize itself but it will tell us more about each teams’ preparation and game plan. It’s hard to look past one of the big four (I’m including Canada) lifting the trophy in 2025 but sport is a curious thing, there will still be twists and turns in road ahead.
2 Go to commentsThe better side seems to be the losing side a lot these days. As far as narrative goes. Must be the big emergent culture of “participation awards” that have emerged in nanny states. ”It looked like New Zealand would take the game from there but lapses in execution let South Africa get back into the game. New Zealand’s goal kickers left five points out there, including a very make-able penalty on the stroke of half”. Sounds like a chronic problem… I wonder how the better team has lapses in concentration and execution? Or are those not important factors in the grand scheme of total performances? In 2023, the ABs at least didn’t give up a lead to lose. They just couldn’t execute to get the points and take the lead. This Baby AB result points to a choke - letting the game slip through your fingers. In the words of the great Ricky Bobby’s dad - “If you’re not 1st you’re last!” Loosely translated - if you didn’t win, you’re a loser.
9 Go to commentsWith Stuart Lancaster at the helm, Racing 92 looks more and more a mercenaries club like Toulon some years ago and they are not even performing despite all the money on offer.
4 Go to commentsCouple of things BS missed: wind was behind the Baby Blacks in the first half. Baby Boks got points from a scrum penalty in the final quarter against this ‘dominant pack’, and left three points on the park after a missed penalty.
9 Go to commentsSensible thoughts on this, Brett. Also worth considering we’ve sold 60k tickets for a game between the Rebels and the Lions next year. Got to be roughly $10m in ticket and game day revenue there.
5 Go to commentsUnsuccessful bitter ex Ulster player taking a pop shot at a side that isn't including his consistently poor mates up north
4 Go to commentsHis decision to play in France isn’t a petulant decision as this article suggests. I reckon that France is the perfect place to demonstrate that he can mix it in those battles Rassie references. It’s a good decision to try get into the squad. My personal opinion is that he wins more battles than he loses. I don’t have Rassie’s stats machine behind me, but Daymian’s is so strong moving through traffic and in the rip.
4 Go to commentsWow! Argie forward dominance is something I have not read in years….
1 Go to commentsIs the ‘snub’ really why he is leaving? He hasn’t said that has he? You don’t have to stay in SA to play for the Boks, so it’s not that he’s giving up on trying to get into the squad as the case would be in, say, England or New Zealand. Rassie made it clear that the early camps won’t feature all the players to play for the Boks this year so I can’t imagine Dayimani was too offended by being overlooked this time. It just seems like a sensationalist angle to take for a story without really knowing the player’s intentions.
4 Go to commentsWell, it is easily one of the best Irish sides, it’s just that their historical standard is very low.
4 Go to commentsThe Irish side is good. They have lost 2 games in the last 23 tests. In the last 12 months they have have a 60% win rate against the top 5 sides in the world. Over the same period south africa have a 67% win rate against the top 5 teams, and New Zealand are at 40%.
4 Go to commentsOnly 1247 days until RWC 2027 starts Bin Smuth🤣Can’t wait to see how unhinged you’re still gonna get between now & then
200 Go to commentsany chance either team will improve on their u20 world cup performances this time around? I assume both sides will be deeply disappointed with how things went.
6 Go to commentsAnother poor articles by a poor journo, nothing new from Ben, at least you are consistently bad lol, geez I will try and watch the match later, clearly Benny was only looking to one end of the pitch, hard to tell whom the Baby Blacks were playing if it wasn’t in the header 😄😄
9 Go to commentsNz should have won. I didn't watch the game, but the ref was at fault and the bounce of the ball and the Bokke used the Bomb squad and the Bokke slow the game down and the Bokke scrum. They should remove the scrum. The Bokke are to strong. Not fair. Nz should have won
9 Go to commentsProbably the worst article on a rugby match I have ever read
200 Go to commentsWho hurt this man.. LoL 😭
200 Go to commentsIt unfortunate for the Jaguares that they became formidable just as super rugby as we knew came to an end. However, the idea of bringing them back is nonsensical. While I enjoyed the Jaguares and the South African flavour of the comp, a selling point of this incarnation of super rugby is that all games are on a decent time for an Aussie audience.
5 Go to commentslol that’s your opinion Ben, All Blacks benefited from a forward pass try, SA played 77 min without a recognised hooker, missed a no try conversion and a penalty could have would have but didn’t
200 Go to commentsBrett, from my distant perspective, I hope you get to keep the Rebels. Any ideas of teams from Japan or Argentina are just crazy. Won’t happen. If you look at logistics, it is much easier to get to LA from Auckland, Brisbane, Melbourne or Sydney than to Buenos Aires. All with direct non-stop daily flights. You may even get some “gringos” to watch the games, with some younger players compared to Giteau and Nonu who still “play” in the area. I think it is virtually impossible to get a competitive Argie team for SR. All Pumas are in Europe, almost all second tier players are also in Europe. Fringe players are in South American pro rugby tournament (and many still in the MLR!) but these players who might be most interested in joining a new Jaguares do not have the skills to compete. As I have been saying since the Jaguares joined, they should have had TWO teams to make logistics for visiting teams better and Argie player development improved as well. Jaguares/Pumas was not ideal. But this is where Pichot and his cronies did not think long enough. Further the country with he new president “No hay Plata” Milei is in a very difficult situation. Galperin, the richest man in Argentina owns the Miami franchise of MLR. I don’t think you can get him to invest in Argentina. Actually, he played rugby himself. He was a fly half. He is worth around $6 billion!
5 Go to comments