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England centre Manu Tuilagi has taken up dance classes in battle for fitness
By PA
Manu Tuilagi has taken up salsa dancing to aid his recovery from the achilles injury that is on course to heal in time for the latter stages of Sale’s Gallagher Premiership title push. The England centre is around eight weeks away from a return to action after tearing the ligament against Northampton in late September, ruling him out of the autumn and Six Nations.
As part of his rehabilitation, Tuilagi is performing salsa and hiking as he closes in on a comeback in early May that will enable him to make a late pitch for Lions selection against South Africa this summer. Sale director of rugby Alex Sanderson said: “Manu is walking and learning salsa, believe it or not. If you are hiking and doing salsa you can’t be far off playing rugby.
“The salsa is for his ankle and a wife of one of the players is taking (coronavirus) tests because she is able to teach him salsa, so he has been learning that. He is going to perform for the boys in around five weeks. I haven’t watched him salsa but he is good with his feet for a big guy.
“I went for a 7.5km hike with him around Macclesfield Forest last Friday and he was on great form. We went up to the highest point of Macc Forest. He was climbing over boulders and it’s really undulating terrain, that is why we took him. He has got another one this Friday that is 10km.
“It’s about seven to eight weeks for him, maybe. Definitely, he will play again this season. It’s good to see him up and about. He is a good lad so he is adding energy to the place.”
Tuilagi’s ball carrying might has left a void in midfield for Sale and England, but the latest timeframe for his return means he could be involved in the last five rounds of the regular Premiership season plus the playoffs if the Sharks progress.
Lions coach Warren Gatland will monitor his progress closely knowing a fit Tuilagi would be the most destructive player at his disposal with no obvious like-for-like replacement across all four nations.
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John, McKenzie was 10 years ago and he only lasted 15 months until the disgustingly unfair affair that brought him down. I thought that if he didn't get another gig over Eddie V2 then he was done. I read that he had been approached but declined to put his name in the ring.
There are no potential Wallaby coaches outside of McKellar unless you have some inside info?
Go to commentsThe way they are defending is sometime pathetic to be honest. Itoje is usually on the inside of the rush and he is paired with a slower tight forward. Unable to keep up with the rush we have seen the line become disconnected on the inside where the big boys are. How many times have we seen Earl rush past the first receiver almost into no mans land covering no attacker. It looks like a system without any guidance. Tome Wright, Ikitau and a number of Wallabies went back to this soft centre as did Williams, Jordan and several others. Also when the line is broken the multiple lines of defence seems to be missing. The rush is predicated on a cover and recovery system with multiple lines of defence but with England you dont see it any more. Fitness and conditioning seems to be off as well as players are struggling to keep up with the intensity of the rush. Felix Jones has left a huge hole. The whole situation was and is a mess. Why they insist on not letting him go and having him work remotely is beyond me. Its leading to massive negative press and is a hot button issue thats distracting from the squad. Also the communication around Jones and his role has been absolute rubbish and is totally disjointed. While some say he is working remotely and playing a role others are saying theres been no contact. His role has not been defined and so people keep asking and keep getting different answers. England need a clean break from him and need to start over. Whatever reason for his leaving its time to cut the rope before the saga drags the whole Borthwick regime down. As for Joe El Abd well good luck to him. He is being made to look like an amateur by the whole saga and he is being asked to coach a system thats not his and which has been perfected and honed since 2017 by Nienaber, Jones, Erasmus and Co and which was first started by White in 2004. He is literally trying to figure out a system pioneered by double world cup winning coaches at the highest level and coach it at the same time. Talk about being on a hiding to nothing.
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