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'We'd never risk it': The Sale, Eddie Jones thinking around Manu

By Liam Heagney
(Photo by Malcolm Couzens/Getty Images)

Sale boss Alex Sanderson has explained that their over-cautious management of the fitness of Manu Tuilagi was the reason why he was ruled out of last weekend’s comprehensive Gallagher Premiership win over London Irish. The injury-prone 31-year-old had been in flying form this season, starting his club’s first four matches and also coming through a three-day England training camp.

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However, Tuilagi shipped a knock in the October 8 win at his old club Leicester and sat out Sale’s fifth match of their campaign as a precaution ahead of this Sunday’s hosting of Harlequins in Manchester ahead of the start of the latest England camp the following day in Jersey for the upcoming Autumn Nations Series.

Tuilagi hasn’t played for England in eleven months due to respective hamstring and knee injuries, but Sale and the RFU have combined their resources to try and do their best for Tuilagi who has played a total of eleven club matches since originally getting injured when scoring for his country against the Springboks last November.

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The aim is not only to ensure he can make a return this November for England. Instead, the end game is that he can go on to be fit for selection for the 2023 World Cup in France which starts next September.

“He caught a knee from Jimmy Gopperth, an accidental knee in the back last week, and it was a little bit niggly,” explained Sanderson. “With Manu and with a short turnaround, if he is carrying (anything) and can’t do the full amount of training we wanted to do to keep him robust, we’d never risk it because we know of his history. That was the reason why he wasn’t involved (against Irish).

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“Let’s bring the RFU into this and Eddie (Jones), who I met with on Friday. There is a very strong relationship there with understanding what works best for Manu so they have come to the table as well and the proof will be in the pudding. In fact, the proof will be when he plays well for a World Cup.

“That has always been our aim, to get him to that World Cup, performing right at the best of his ability and hopefully better than he has ever played. That will be the proof. This [the upcoming November series] is just another stepping stone on that journey to the World Cup.”

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Ahead of this weekend’s fixture versus Harlequins, the Sale training update on Tuilagi was: “Super sharp, super fresh, really verbal out there, buzzing around. It was a minor back strain. He probably could have played if it was a final but you know our take on managing Manu, so we have got him back this weekend if selected.”

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Jon 6 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 9 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.

36 Go to comments
A
Adrian 11 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

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