STATEMENT: Manu Tuilagi responds to England retirement speculation

Reports in the media today has suggested the centre is poised to make his final appearance for England this weekend against France before departing for a French club following the conclusion of the Premiership season.

The Sale Sharks centre neither confirmed or denied that this weekend will be his last game.

"The plan is to get on the pitch on Saturday," said Tuilagi.

"Every time you get the chance to play for England could be my last game so I have to just make the most of it and enjoy it,"

The formidable centre, set to turn 35 in 2027, would fulfil the requisite three-year stand-down period, rendering him eligible to play for Samoa in the upcoming Rugby World Cup. Interestingly, Tuilagi, whose brother Freddie competed for Samoa in the 1991 World Cup, was named Manusamoa, in homage to the Samoan national team.

Additionally, the Vunipola brothers, Mako and Billy, may contemplate representing Tonga, the birthplace of their father, given the new eligibility criteria.

While any decisions regarding national team switches remain speculative, there are indications that five more players could be exploring similar moves.

The Leicester Tigers winger, who was given his debut by Borthwick in 2023, has expressed his willingness to potentially represent Wales in 2026.

Despite earning two caps for England during last year's Six Nations, the 25-year-old hasn't been included in Steve Borthwick's squad since then. Notably, he was absent from England A's recent triumph over Portugal.

Ahead of this year's Six Nations, Gatland had mentioned Hassell-Collins several times, especially during the discussion surrounding another dual-qualified winger, Immanuel Feyi-Waboso.

“I have seen Gatland’s interview,” Hassell-Collins told the Telegraph.

“I’ve got two caps for England, and obviously I’m English. But if I don’t see anything in the next few years then it’s definitely something that I would consider.

“I would qualify [for Wales] the year of the World Cup – that is, if he still wants me. Wales is still part of who I am.

"My grandma was Welsh and I still have family over there. It’s still a part of me – and I’d never turn it down – but for now it’s England for me.”

Lynagh, the Treviso-born son of Australia great Michael who also played for the Italian club in the 1990s, quit Harlequins to join Italian club Benetton a couple of weeks ago with the aim of representing the Azzurri.

The 23-year-old was called up by England under Eddie Jones but failed to win a cap and has been overlooked completely by Steve Borthwick since he took over in December 2022.

Lynagh is part of a 33-man group named by Italy technical commissioner Gonzalo Quesada for the clash in Lille on February 18.

On confirming his move to United Rugby Championship high-flyers Benetton, Lynagh said: “It’s been a difficult decision to leave my boyhood club but I feel the time is right for a new challenge in Italy.

“I have lived in England since I was four-years-old, but Italy and Treviso have always been in my heart.

“My father played a fundamental role not only in my rugby career, but also in my life. He always wanted the best for me and always agreed with every decision I made.

“He told me that playing in Treviso will be the best for me and my style of rugby.”

When asked if he'd be open to swapping nations, he told Rugby Pass: “Yes, 100 per cent,”

He added: “I’m just focusing purely on Black Rams and just playing as well as I can and letting the selectors do their job.

“The coaches and their staff are all in Europe at the moment and I’m not sure when they will be coming to Japan. We’ll wait until the day comes.

"If he picks me, we will make the decision then, but we have got two more games to go (at Black Rams) and we are trying to finish as high as we can up the table and go from there.”

Making waves in the Top 14 and Europe with Montpellier, Mercer pulling on the famous All Black jersey would be as shocking a switch of nationality that the game has ever seen. 

Described as ‘fat and lazy’ by England boss Eddie Jones before his international debut in 2018, this would be the ultimate way to prove the Aussie wrong.

The only drawback to the switch is to become eligible for New Zealand he’d have to join one of their Super Rugby sides.

Despite being snubbed by Borthwick for both Rugby World Cup and Six Nations rosters, Mercer, son of Gary who earned 21 caps for New Zealand in rugby league, could still engineer an improbable transition.

Lozowski, who has an Italian grandmother, could take advantage of the new World Rugby rules surrounding eligibility. 

The Saracens star, who won the last of his six England caps in 2018, could swap with immediate effect following the rule change and was approached by former Italy boss Kieran Crowley on multiple occasions.

“I have been in contact. I haven’t personally been in contact with Paolo but he has been contacted,” Crowley said at the Six Nations launch last year.

“The other two [Lozowski and Lynagh] I have spoken to personally. They have made decisions at the moment that I respect. I support them. I’ll keep in contact with them. But certainly if they were available, we’d certainly be looking at them. They are all quality players.

“We will keep the lines of communication open. Not only with those three but there are a number of others as well.”

The other two players mentioned have since accepted Italy call-ups.

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