Leicester have pledged to nurse Manu Tuilagi back to health after the England centre’s latest cruel injury setback. The 25-year-old has been ruled out for the rest of the season with damaged knee ligaments, wrecking his chances of making this summer’s British & Irish Lions tour as well as any hope of featuring in the Six Nations Championship.
It is now almost four years since the injury-plagued Tuilagi started a Test match at Twickenham and he has managed 17 minutes of international action since the summer of 2014. Surgery will now be needed to repair his anterior cruciate ligament, with only Jonny Wilkinson among modern high-profile English backs having bounced back successfully from such a protracted litany of fitness issues.
The Pacific Island-born back encountered off-field trouble during a previous long-term injury lay-off in 2015 when an assault conviction led him to be suspended by the England head coach at the time, Stuart Lancaster.
This time, however, his club is determined to do everything it can to ensure the powerful centre, capped 26 times for his adopted country, makes a full recovery.
The interim Leicester director of rugby, Aaron Mauger, who has assumed control after the sacking of Richard Cockerill this week, confirmed Tuilagi would have an operation this month and would be sidelined for at least six months after being injured nine minutes into the home defeat by Saracens on Sunday.
“It was just a freak accident,” Mauger said. “He got himself in a good position, got around his man and then three guys converged on him at the same time. There were three players – and probably 300kg – on his shoulders. One of the wingers just clipped his leg and put a bit of pressure on that knee. A bit of cartilage spilled out the side and popped back in.
“He’s going to be out for a long time and it can be quite lonely doing rehab. But we will have a good support staff and medical team around him. We’ll make sure we look after him. He will probably need a bit of space to get his head around it and we will allow him the opportunities to do that.”
The Leicester captain, Tom Youngs, also believes Tuilagi will get his rehab right this time and resume his Test career next season. “He’s had a few slip-ups but I think he’s grown a lot as a man now and understands a bit better,” Youngs said.
“He will commit to it. I’m absolutely gutted for him. He had just got his groin right, was looking sharp and was starting to rumble. It’s very hard for him to pick up the pieces again.”
As part of the process, Tuilagi has already been appointed as the club’s new training-ground barista. “We’ve got a new coffee machine now so he can learn how to do that for us all,” Youngs said.
“I’m sure he will be speaking to people in the right places to help him through this difficult time. It’s psychologically hard, so it’s very important to keep those guys engaged. It’s horrible when you are injured because you don’t feel part of it.”
