Manu Tuilagi insists losing weight won’t stop him being a “wrecking ball” this season.
Sale’s midfield star is marking the 10th anniversary of his England debut by going from crash ball to crash diet.
The move follows team mate Rohan Janse van Rensburg suggesting that shedding some timber would make them both more effective and less prone to serious injury.
Each has lost a stone by cutting out red meat and reducing sugar - and Tuilagi warned a slimmed down version of himself would have more impact, not less.
“Being a wrecking ball sort of centre is more mentality,” he said. “You can be the smallest guy and still run through brick walls.
“I am still heavy. I have lost a bit of weight but I am not 90kg! I am still over 100.
“It’s a mentality thing,” explained Tuilagi, who starts for Sharks against London Irish at Brentford tomorrow.
“The Beast, Rohan, asked me a question and nothing hurts like the truth. I was one or two kilos too heavy.
“I love my food and running around for 80 minutes those two kilos can weigh you down quite a bit.
“So we thought, lose a bit of weight and that will allow us to be a bit more mobile, a bit more agile and use less energy; have a bit more precision in the way you can play the game.
“Last week I felt a lot better. The way we trained in pre-season, when the game got tough it was just another fast and furious day at the office.”
Van Rensburg admits he thought twice before broaching the delicate subject with the 44-times capped England star.
“Manu is my best mate,” he said. “In the back of my head I am thinking, ‘This is the pearl of English rugby and you don’t want to make him angry!’
“Me and Manu have had similar injuries in our careers with ankles, knees and hamstrings and we looked into why and maybe it was because we were just too heavy for the amount of force we put out running.”
With Tuilagi firing on all cylinders, Sale have a squad capable of going all the way, even if they did make hard work of putting away Bath in their opener.
“They are a well-drilled, physical, top-four side,” said London Irish boss Declan Kidney. “It will be a big challenge.”
