Eddie Jones reveals the honest reason he's dropped Manu Tuilagi
Rugby NewsThursday, 10 November 2022 at 17:10
Eddie Jones has revealed Manu Tuilagi cannot be expected to play every week due to his pretty extensive injury problems down the years.
The Sale Sharks powerhouse is replaced in the England team to play Japan by Leicester Tigers centre Guy Porter.
“It’s all about workload. We’ve given him a lighter week of training. He’ll still be able to finish for us,” revealed the England head coach.
“We just feel that with Manu’s injury record, to play four big games in a row is probably not in his best interests at the moment.
“Whenever you’ve got a powerful player with soft tissue injuries, you’ve got to experiment a little bit.
“It’s about what’s the right training load, what’s the right kind of training, what’s the right rehabilitation, what’s the right recovery?
“You can’t go to a textbook and look up: ‘Chapter one – difficult players to manage’. There’s just no textbook for it, so it’s a matter of experimentation.
“It’s a matter of cohesion between the staff here and at Sale, the medical staff and strength and conditioning staff, and I think that’s being done really well.
“We’ve got him in a good position now, he played 60-odd minutes against Japan, he trained with us yesterday (Wednesday) and did most of the training.
“He’s in a really good spot, he looks lean, he looks healthy and we’ll get a good result from him off the bench.”
When is England vs Japan?
The fixture between England and Japan takes place at Twickenham Stadium in London on Saturday 12 November and kicks off at 3:15pm (GMT).
How can I watch England vs Japan?
The match will not be available on terrestrial television and like the rest of the autumn internationals will be broadcast on Amazon Prime Video.
Expected England team to play Japan:
15. Freddie Steward
14. Jack Nowell (VC)
13. Guy Porter
12. Owen Farrell (C)
11. Jonny May
10. Marcus Smith
9. Jack van Poortvliet
1. Ellis Genge (VC)
2. Luke Cowan-Dickie
3. Kyle Sinckler
4. David Ribbans
5. Jonny Hill
6. Maro Itoje
7. Tom Curry
8. Sam Simmonds
Finishers
16. Jamie George
17. Mako Vunipola
18. Joe Heyes
19. Alex Coles
20. Billy Vunipola
21. Ben Youngs
22. Henry Slade
23. Manu Tuilagi
Warren Gatland's England XV to face Japan
Back-three:
- 15. Freddie Steward (Leicester Tigers)
- 14. Jack Nowell (Exeter Chiefs)
- 11. Joe Cokanasiga (Bath RFC)
Freddie Steward of England goes over for a try during the Autumn Nations Match between England and Australia at Twickenham on 13 November 2021. Photo: Micah Crook/PPAUK
DID YOU KNOW?
- In May 2022 Steward was named as the Rugby Players' Association
Player's Young player of the year and England men's player of the season
- In April 2017, Nowell was called up for the 2017 British & Irish Lions tour to New Zealand, becoming the first player to be selected from Exeter Chiefs by the Lions
- Cokanasiga was born in Fiji but before his third birthday, moved to England with his father, Ilaitia, who was in the British Army
Centres:
- 13. Henry Slade (Exeter Chiefs)
- 12. Manu Tuilagi (Sale Sharks)
Manu Tuilagi of England during the Autumn Nations Match between England and Tonga at Twickenham Stoop on 6 November 2021. Photo: Tom Sandberg/PPAUK
DID YOU KNOW?
- He was named Manusamoa, after the name of the Samoan national team, Manu Samoa, because his brother Freddie was selected for Samoa at the World Cup in 1991, the year Manu was born
Halfbacks:
- 10. Owen Farrell (Saracens)
- 9. Jack van Poortvliet (Leicester Tigers)
Owen Farrell, Captain of England kicks the penalty during the Autumn Nations Series Match between England and Argentina at Twickenham Stadium on 6 November 2022. Photo: Frankie OKeeffe/PPAUK
Front-row:
- 1. Ellis Genge (Bristol Bears)
- 2. Luke Cowan-Dickie (Exeter Chiefs)
- 3. Kyle Sinckler (Bristol Bears)
DID YOU KNOW?
- Genge has developmental coordination disorder (dyspraxia)
- Sinckler has represented England at under-16, under-18, under-19 and under-20 levels, and has been a crucial member of the senior team since 2016
Second-row:
- 4. Maro Itoje (Saracens)
- 5. Jonny Hill (Sale Sharks)
Final whistle celebrations for Maro Itoje of England Rugby after the Six Nations Championship match between England and Wales at Twickenham Stadium, Twickenham, London on February 26th 2021. - PHOTO: Phil Mingo/PPAUK
DID YOU KNOW?
- As a schoolboy, Itoje played several sports including basketball, football, rugby and athletics, representing England at U17 level in shot put
- Hill is the nephew of former Rugby league international Paul Loughlin.
Back-row:
- 6. Jack Willis (Free Agent)
- 7. Tom Curry (Sale Sharks)
- 8. Sam Simmonds (Exeter Chiefs)
Tom Curry of England during the Autumn Nations Match between England and Tonga at Twickenham Stoop on 6 November 2021. Photo: Tom Sandberg/PPAUK
DID YOU KNOW?
- Curry is the twin brother of Sale Sharks flanker Ben Curry, son of Bishop Heber High School Head Teacher David Curry and nephew of former England hooker John Olver
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