The last time Manu Tuilagi made a splash at a World Cup he had to be fished out of Auckland harbour.
He landed himself in hot water, was slapped with a £3,000 fine and came home to a disapproving nation.
In Japan yesterday he made another, but this time was hailed as England’s saviour for bagging the two tries which kick-started their campaign.
A tournament four years in the making for Eddie Jones’ team was in danger of getting off to an embarrassing start as they huffed and puffed against the cash-strapped minnows of Pool C.
But Tuilagi took matters into his own hands, muscling his way over twice in six minutes to spare blushes and enable Jones to just about put a positive spin on events.
"Manu has got pace and power, ran some great lines and is going to have a great tournament,” he said of a player scoring his first World Cup try for eight years.
“I couldn’t be more pleased. We came to Sapporo and we wanted five points. We have got everyone fit, we have got no tries on the board for two games in a row, we couldn’t be happier.”
Actually they could be. For Tonga have a population of a small English town to pick from. Their best player, Billy Vunipola, plays for England. And just a fortnight ago they were caned 92-7 by New Zealand.
Yet they fired themselves up by seeing Zane Kapeli put Vunipola on his backside with a peach of a hit and they frustrated England for long periods after that.
No wonder Jones hammered the table in front of him in fury midway through the first half as his team sloppily conceded a sixth penalty.
England under their Aussie boss have grown used to scoring very early tries then settling into a rhythm. There was none of that here.
They trailed 3-3 after the first quarter and came perilously close to having a player sent off when Tuilagi unleashed a huge shot on Sonatane Takalua just as the scrum-half came down with a high ball.
A split-second earlier and things would have been messy. But instead of losing Tuilagi to a card, the centre got up and went on a scoring spree.
His first try released the pressure which had been building, his second - from superb play also involving George Ford, Elliot Daly and Jonny May - allowed England to breathe a little easier.
“Manu is showing every one what a great player he truly is,” said Maro Itoje. “This is the longest period he’s been healthy for a couple of years and day by day he is getting better.”
When Jamie George bagged a third try from a driving maul on 55 minutes there was still plenty of time to get the bonus score but sloppy handling and a lack of composure let England down.
First Sam Underhill dropped the ball five metres out, then Henry Slade wasted brilliant work by Anthony Watson by mistiming the scoring pass to Daly.
England kept playing, heeding the advice of Sir Alex Ferguson on a recent visit, to stay patient and keep playing.
And just when hope seemed lost two substitutes combined to save the day, Jonathan Joseph breaking up the middle for Cowan-Dickie to score.
