Leicester will look to rehabilitate instead of punishing Manu Tuilagi, whose ambition of playing for England in this year’s World Cup ended in court this past week when he was convicted of assaulting two police officers and a taxi driver. The 23-year-old centre, who has not played since October because of a groin injury, was told by Stuart Lancaster the day after the hearing at the magistrates’ court that he would not be considered for the national squad until January.
Richard Cockerill, Leicester’s director of rugby, said Tuilagi would have been fit to play in the World Cup warm-up matches in August. He will meet the club’s chairman and chief executive in the coming weeks to consider whether to take internal disciplinary action against a player he said would play international rugby again.
“I am disappointed, but Manu has never tried to hide from his actions or make excuses,” said Cockerill. “He cannot behave as he did and he knows that. He has been punished by the courts and by England. Before I decide what to do with him, I want to find out the exact details of what he did.
“There has been a lot of hysteria about this and some of the headlines have been tough. I do not excuse what he did, but he is a young man growing up in the public eye and you make mistakes as you are growing up. I am not making light of what has happened, but I empathise with him.
“We are all very holier-than-thou when it is not us. We need some understanding of a young professional in the public eye. We all know he is a better bloke than his behaviour portrayed him to be. He has to show that and we need to support him as well. He will play for the club and England again.”
The Leicester captain Ben Youngs said the squad would rally around Tuilagi. “We will put our arms around Manu and look after him,” he said. “We all want to see him back on the field.”
