If one player deserves a break in a season that ends with a Lions tour, as long as it does not involve one of his bones, it is Manu Tuilagi, who, since scattering New Zealand tacklers like skittles at Twickenham at the end of 2012, has spent more time on the treatment table than on the pitch.
The Leicester and England centre was seen as someone who could help mould England into a force by the 2015 World Cup, but since the end of the 2013 Six Nations injuries have reduced him to three starts in 36 Tests and two appearances from the bench, as well as restricting his involvement in the 2013 Lions tour to Australia.
A persistent groin problem kept him out of action for more than a year and though he returned to action last season and was a replacement for England’s final two matches in the Six Nations he suffered a hamstring strain that ruled him out of the tour to Australia and further put back Eddie Jones’s plans to turn him into an international 12 in the style of New Zealand’s Ma’a Nonu.
“I am feeling really good,” says Tuilagi, who, at 25, has time on his side. “I am not going to say I am getting used to missing England matches but it is what it is. You cannot change what has happened but look to the future and look after your body.
“I was bitterly disappointed to miss the Australia tour where the boys did really well. When the first Test was played, I was flying out to Samoa and was able to watch the first half while in transit.
“The boys were relentless and under Eddie we train hard and have a pretty simple gameplan. He drops me a text every now and then to see how I am getting on and he definitely wants me to play at 12, which is not much different to playing 13. It depends how you use different players and in terms of phase play, it is not a set position.
“We have a number of centres at Leicester. Matt Toomua is joining, Peter Betham can play at 12 or 13, as can Mathew Tait, and for me it is making sure I learn the roles. I learn so much off Aaron Mauger [Leicester’s head coach] who spent his playing career in the midfield. It is about being a smart footballer.”
Tuilagi has made his name as a hard runner who is formidably difficult to haul down when he has broken into a stride. Mauger and Jones want to exploit the handling skills and creative ability commonly innate in Pacific Islanders, much as New Zealand turned Nonu from a head-down bosher to the leading inside-centre of his era.
“You always try to improve your skills,” Tuilagi says. “It’s about looking up, not so much looking at the ball the whole time but working on your vision.
“For me it is about trying to get fit, back to my best and in a good place mentally. If I do that then everything else will take care of itself.
“The last few years have been frustrating but in a way I learned a lot, perhaps more than if I had played the whole time. When you are fit, you take things for granted. The groin injury I had was uncommon and difficult to gauge. The hamstring at the end of last season was just unlucky.
“My goal this season is to stay fit and win some medals with Leicester. If I do well with my club, England will take care of itself. My game is about bringing that physicality to the midfield and crossing the gainline. That doesn’t have to be about running over people. It is all about manipulating the defence but there are times when the simple option is the right one.
“My weight is good at the moment, at 112kg [17st 8lb] just one over where I want to be. I am concentrating on the here and now, which is Leicester. We do not talk about the Lions here, just the Tigers.”
