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Sale share pictures of Tuilagi already in the thick of it at Carrington
By Josh Raisey
The arrival of Manu Tuilagi at Sale Sharks was only announced on Monday but the England centre has already begun training with his new club ahead of next month's restart of the suspended 2019/20 Gallagher Premiership season.
With Sale due at Harlequins on August 14 to get rugby going again in England following the stoppage for the coronavirus pandemic, Leicester fans should look away now as Sale have shared photos of Tuilagi - Tigers' former player and crowd favourite - training at the Carrington ground.
Steve Diamond has wasted no time in bleeding the 29-year-old into his new squad as preparations mount for the return to action in a league where they occupy second place, five points behind leaders Exeter whom they will meet in Manchester on the second weekend back.
While Tuilagi’s departure had been expected after his failed contract negotiations with Leicester at the beginning of this month, his move to the AJ Bell Stadium was only announced at the start of his week, ending his eleven-year association with the Tigers.
Although the British and Irish Lions midfielder was one of a number of players who left after refusing to sign a new contract, his departure probably cut the deepest given the fact he had played his entire club career so far at Welford Road.
It also ended the long line of Tuilagis that have worn the green, red and white of Leicester. Having said that, his older brother Andy also played for Sale for three seasons.
The centre joins a Sale side that are tipped to make a strong push during the second half of the Gallagher Premiership season.
Most noticeably, his partnership with the equally sizeable Rohan Janse van Rensburg in the centre is something that has drawn a lot of attention. The arrival of Sam Hill from Exeter Chiefs leaves the Sharks spoilt for choice in the midfield.
Sale had won five of their six league matches in 2020 before the season was suspended due to the Covid-19 outbreak and adding a player of the calibre of Tuilagi will only enhance their chances of a successful end to the season.
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Latest Comments
Nah, that just needs some more variation. Chip kicks, grubber stabs, all those. Will Jordan showed a pretty good reason why the rush was bad for his link up with BB.
If you have an overlap on a rush defense, they naturally cover out and out and leave a huge gap near the ruck.
It also helps if both teams play the same rules. ARs set the offside line 1m past where the last mans feet were😅
Go to commentsYeah nar, should work for sure. I was just asking why would you do it that way?
It could be achieved by outsourcing all your IP and players to New Zealand, Japan, and America, with a big Super competition between those countries raking it in with all of Australia's best talent to help them at a club level. When there is enough of a following and players coming through internally, and from other international countries (starting out like Australia/without a pro scene), for these high profile clubs to compete without a heavy australian base, then RA could use all the money they'd saved over the decades to turn things around at home and fund 4 super sides of their own that would be good enough to compete.
That sounds like a great model to reset the game in Aus. Take a couple of decades to invest in youth and community networks before trying to become professional again. I just suggest most aussies would be a bit more optimistic they can make it work without the two decades without any pro club rugby bit.
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