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The GPS tweak which Sale hope can get Tuilagi back with England

(Photo by PA)

Sale boss Alex Sanderson has explained they have adopted the GPS system used by England in order to get Manu Tuilagi fit “at some point of time during the Six Nations period”. The powerhouse midfielder damaged his hamstring in the act of diving in to score in the corner at Twickenham during last November’s win over the world champion Springboks.

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Sharks had suggested in recent weeks that a comeback for the 30-year-old wasn’t too far away, generating hopes that he would be back in action in time for the start of the Six Nations on February 5. 

However, Eddie Jones reported on Tuesday that Tuilagi had suffered “a wee setback” that had resulted in his exclusion from the 36-strong England squad named for next week’s training camp in Brighton ahead of the opening match away to Scotland.  

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Eddie Jones announces England’s new-generation 2022 Six Nations squad

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Eddie Jones announces England’s new-generation 2022 Six Nations squad

Jones said: “He [Tuilagi] has had a wee setback but we will just have to wait and see what he is up to. He needs to get some training, needs to play a few games. If we are 100 per cent optimistic we’d say yes (he will feature in the Six Nations). If we are realistic it’s probably about a 50/50.”

The England coach refused to elaborate any further on the situation and it was left to Sale boss Sanderson to shed further light on Tuilagi when appearing at his weekly media conference on Wednesday ahead of next Sunday’s Champions Cup at home to Ospreys.  

He is in good form,” quipped Sanderson when asked about Tuilagi and when might he be fit and available for England selection. “His coffee-making skills are A1. He won’t be right for this weekend, touch and go for Leicester. He will be fit at some point during the Six Nations period. When and if he joins up with the England squad will be determined by his physical fitness and his mental well-being to be able to do it. 

“That is what we have decided and Eddie has been brilliant with that. When he is right, we will push him through. I can’t give any more certainty to that because it is scratch and sniff with him at the moment.”

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How careful are Sale about this latest challenge of getting the injury-prone Tuilagi ready to play again? “We are very sensitive around bringing him back too early because the goal is to push him towards the World Cup, and we have all the data that we had before he came back last time when he was in really good form,” reckoned Sanderson. 

“It’s not misalignment: we have our GPS system, they [England] have their own system of GPS and data collection for loading. What we have done now is get one of the England system units so that the data captured is homogenized and we have a better understanding of what it looks like across both camps.

“We are even more aligned than we were before in terms of what is right for him when he is here and we are able to build him up and increase that intensity for when he goes into the England camp.” 

Tuilagi’s unrelenting determination to repeatedly bounce back from injury is why Sanderson has remained a fan. “There is a reason why we have kept him on board and why he is staying because most people with an injury record like that, it’s a big leap of fate but I have got faith in him that he will come back. 

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“He has lost more weight, believe it or not. That was the one thing that made him more robust this season, so he has gone and done a little bit more. He has lost another two or three kgs on what he was. I think he’d be about 103, 102, something like that, lean and mean.”

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JW 35 minutes ago
Three former All Blacks assess the playing style adopted against France

Yep Wilson at least does a lot of such research but I think it’s only when it revolves around the All Blacks etc, like he go and find out why Ireland whipped our butt etc, and come back with a view we need to imrpove and do x y z like such and such is.


But none of them are individuals that are a) any sort of quality coach/analyst of the game (NPC the highest), or b) seem to consume stupids amount of rugby for the love of it like people in a similar profession in other top leagues. Johnson is probably the only one I would say comes close to that but is a pure fan, I don’t think he has any pro knowledge.


To be fair to them, the best in say soccer or american football would get paid a hundred times what these guys do, but it’s so hard in those markets that all panelists have to be students of the game just to get a shot. And in the case of Beaver, he is like the Ian Smith of cricket, he’s a knowledgable gu, enough to lead people down the wrong track (they would believe him), but they’re both very obvious in their more parochial opinions that you know to take what Beavers saying with a grain of salt. Wilson, Marshall, and even Mils go off like they think theyre the bees knees,


Admittedly things are changing globably, i’ve glimpsed enough football shows to know the Britsih media are happy, and the fans too soaking it up, getting the most high profile ex players on a show as the best way to increase ratings.

13 Go to comments
J
JW 57 minutes ago
Beauden Barrett weighs in on controversial yellow card

It’s an interesting question because a normal diberate knock on is just a penalty offense, an normal infringement like any other, so that’s deemed where the was not a reasonable chance to catch the ball.


But it’s a ruling that can also be upgraded to a foul, and by association, a yellow card, when it’s it was also deliberately trying to deny the ball to another player. For instance, that is why they are just given penalties up the field, because the player has just made a bad decision (one where he had no reasonable chance) and he doesn’t really care if the pass had gone to hand for his opponents or not (he was just thinking about being a hero etc).


So the way the refs have been asked to apply the law is to basically just determine whether there was an overlap (and not to try and guess what the player was actually thinking) or not, as to whether it’s a penalty or a YC.


This is the part Barrett doesn’t like, he’s essentially saying “but I had no idea whether they were likely to score or not (whether there was an unmarked man), so how can you tell me I was deliberately trying to prevent it going to someone, it could have been a blind pass to no one”.


It’s WR trying to make it clear cut for fans and refs, if at the players expense.

But yes, also you must think it entirely possible given both were foul plays that they could both go to the bench. Much the same as we see regularly when even though the play scores a try, they have started sending the player off still.


And while I agree Narawa didn’t knock it on, I think the ball did go forward, just off the shoulder. As his hands were up in the air, above the ball, basically like a basketball hope over his right shoulder, I guess you’re right in that if it did make contact with his hands it would have had to be deflected backwards onto his shoulder etc. Looking at the replay, Le Garrec clearly lost control of the ball forward too, but because Barrett was deemed to have committed a deliberate act, that overrides the knockon from 9.


I just don’t understand how they can consider it a deliberate attempt to block a pass when he actually lost the ball forward!

44 Go to comments
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