Return of the Manu

In the words of that 1996 Mark Morrison classic, Manu Tuilagi is back up in the game, letting all the people know, he’s back to run the show.

It’s been a bumpy road for the centre these past few years but it seems as if, finally, there is light at the end of the tunnel.

A string of hamstring and groin injuries over that period have left Tuilagi unable to impact both Leicester Tigers and England in the way he would like. His returns from injury have often been short, seeing the centre pack a punch upon return before suffering from another frustrating setback.

It was a hamstring injury which denied Tuilagi an opportunity to be part of the England squad which whitewashed the Wallabies 3-0 in Australia this summer, but the silver lining to that is that it has allowed him a full preseason at Leicester and he looks all the better for it.

Offensively, he hit the ground running against Gloucester in the season opener, carrying with all the power that set him aside as one of the most destructive forces in world rugby before the injuries started to mount up. The Cherry and Whites couldn’t stop him one-on-one, having to commit extra players to deal with him and opening up space for Leicester’s other potent attacking threats.

The move from outside centre to inside centre is still a work in progress for the 25-year-old but with Aaron Mauger tutoring him at Welford Road, he has a great mentor to help ensure the transition is a success. He only passed once in his 11 offensive touches against Gloucester and even for an inside centre whose primary roles are to straighten the line and keep his team on the front foot, that is not a favourable ratio.

Leicester have been making strides with the evolution of their back line play and unlike in years past, the Tigers have a number of dangerous attacking threats out wide. If Tuilagi is crashing the ball up every time he gets his hands on it, and then Leicester swinging it wide on the next phase, defences will work out how to deal with it. If he were to ship the ball on 25% of the time, it would create enough doubt in defenders’ minds to keep them guessing and not always commit two or three men to stopping him. Broken tackles and a shattered gain line could well ensue.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, defensively is where Tuilagi looked most rusty. He shot out of the line against Gloucester a number of times and fell just short of stopping the attacking play. Northampton’s Courtney Lawes and Saracens’ pack are masters of this, but when they rush up, hunting opposition fly-halves, there is little space and plenty of support and a missed tackle does not cost their side defensively. When Tuilagi rushes up further out in the back line, a missed tackle can lead to two or even three-on-ones for the attacking side.

After suffering from cramps in that game at Kingsholm, Tuilagi was left out of Leicester’s match with Wasps this weekend and taking a cautious approach to his return is a wise one. No matter how much he develops his passing and general playmaking skills, Tuilagi will always be a player who looks to run straight and that lends itself to injuries. Ensuring his body is 100% is all that he and Leicester should be concerned with at this point.

It will be interesting to see how or if Tuilagi fits into Eddie Jones’ England team this autumn. If Jones maintains his assertion that Tuilagi is a 12 and not a 13, then he could be the player that allows Jones to move Owen Farrell inside to fly-half, something which the Australian was keen to do against the Wallabies this summer. Other options would be to use Tuilagi from the bench at first or just hold fire completely, letting the centre continue his work at Leicester and look again at him in the build-up to the Six Nations.

One thing is for sure, however, and that’s that if he is in form and fully-fit, he is a weapon that cannot be left out of test rugby for too long.

So listen carefully, while Tuilagi sings his comeback song.