Manu Tuilagi was acclaimed as “one of a kind” last night as he stepped up his search for an English club to which to escape from Leicester.
For the first time since joining Tigers’ academy as a 15-year-old Tuilagi is without a team after refusing to take a pay cut.
With salary reductions the norm across English and much of French rugby, there could be no worse time to be thrust into the job market.
Jamie Noon, who won 38 caps in the England midfield before becoming a rugby agent across the Channel, says there is no obvious answer for Tuilagi in France, where just a year ago he was offered a £2.5 million deal by Racing.
But he added: “A player like Manu can create holes from a recruitment perspective as well as on a rugby field.
“Even if a club has said ‘we’re done’, if someone like Manu comes across their desk it might change things.
“The thing with Manu is he’s a phenomenal player, an animal in a rugby sense, a one of a kind. He’s incredible at what he does.
“England I’m sure won’t be liking the thought that he will be ineligible to play for them if he goes abroad.
“He brings a confidence and physicality to a team which reassures everyone else.”
Tuilagi, 29, is equally keen to find a domestic solution to keep both his England and Lions dreams alive.
He is understood, ironically, to be prepared to take a drop in wages to stay in the Premiership, believing that he can recoup the difference by claiming for damages against Tigers.
Bristol, the new rich kids of the Premiership, indicated last night that they would not be moving for Tuilagi. Bath and Sale said likewise.
Which could leave Japan, whose reputation as rugby’s No.1 market place was enhanced yesterday by Suntory Sungoliath’s swoop for All Blacks star Beauden Barrett on a reported two-year deal worth £780,000-a-year.
Another player headed overseas is Saracens captain Brad Barritt who confirmed he would not play for another UK club once his contract ends this autumn.
He refused, however, to rule out turning out against the Lions next summer - for a South African team.
Barritt has won five Premierships and three European Cups and insists the Londoners' enforced relegation for multiple salary cap breaches has not “tainted” his time at the club.
“You can’t stop what people think,” he said. “You can only look back and look at yourself in the mirror. I know what I personally put in to the journey and how it made me feel.
“At no point did I ever feel that those memories are tarnished.”
