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Fans rally behind Manu Tuilagi to vote him as world's best centre ahead of Welsh star
By Online Editors
England sensation Manu Tuilagi has been voted the world’s best centre by fans around the globe after fighting off the challenge of Wales star Jonathan Davies in a poll on social media.
The Samoan-born 28-year-old claimed the victory with a comfortable winning margin of 62 percent on RugbyPass‘ Facebook and Instagram accounts as part of the Straight 8 Fan Vote campaign to determine the best player on the planet in each position.
Tuilagi and Davies were left as the last two players standing in the third and final round of the knockout bracket after having dispatched some household names in the prior two rounds.
After downing versatile All Blacks and Chiefs midfielder Anton Lienert-Brown with 73 percent of the vote, Tuilagi backed that up with a similarly comprehensive win against France and Racing 92 star Virimi Vakatawa with more than 72 percent of the public’s backing in the second round.
On the other side of the draw, Davies had defeated Wallabies utility James O'Connor after accruing 81 percent of the vote, before going on to surge past All Blacks incumbent Jack Goodhue with more than 63 percent of the fans’ approval.
In the end, though, it was Tuilagi - a 2013 Premiership champion with the Leicester Tigers and a British and Irish Lions tourist that same year - who proved to to be too good for his former Lions teammate.
"https://www.facebook.com/rugbypass/?ref=bookmarks">here) or the RugbyPass Instagram page (here).
RugbyPass Straight 8 Fan Vote World XV (as it stands)
1. N/A
2. Malcolm Marx (South Africa/NTT Communications Shining Arcs)
3. N/A
4. Maro Itoje (England/Saracens)
5. Eben Etzebeth (South Africa/Toulon)
6. Pieter-Steph du Toit (South Africa/Stormers)
7. Ardie Savea (New Zealand/Hurricanes)
8. Duane Vermeulen (South Africa/Kubota Spears)
9. N/A
10. N/A
11. Semi Radradra (Fiji/Bordeaux)
12. N/A
13. Manu Tuilagi (England/Leicester Tigers)
14. Cheslin Kolbe (South Africa/Toulouse)
15. Stuart Hogg (Scotland/Exeter Chiefs)
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Latest Comments
Reiko should be the dual winger guy as he should be used to playing either side given he's had to do both at 13 (pass and step left/right).
Maybe he has such a bad preference that that's why he's not a good center?
Go to commentsAgreed. And I don't have much more to say on it, but I had been having one thought that sprang to mind at the tail of this discussion, and that is that it's not all about Razor.
It's not about any coach being "right". I think a lot of selections can become defense and while it doesn't really apply here I really enjoyed that Andy Farrell just gave into the public demands and changed out his team for the change that had been asked for. Like why not? This is the countries team, keep them engaged. The whole reason i've only just finished watching the game was because I wasn't interested in watching any of the selected players against a team like Italy (still actually enjoyed the first half with the contest Italy made of it).
Faz leap frogs a younger half back into start. He hands the golden child the game over July's golden child. He gives an old winger a go, a new flanker and hooker. None of them really did any good, certainly not enough to suggest they should have been promoted above others, but who cares? You won, and you gave the country what they wanted, that's all that matters after all. It's for the country, not the one in charge who thinks they have to have their own pied piper tune playing.
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