Waiting for Manu...

Last week former Wales and Lions captain Sam Warburton, speaking on the BBC, drew attention to England’s “ridiculous” reliance on Manu Tuilagi.

As he points out, 12 professional teams with, say, three players per position per team, ought to mean around 36 inside centres playing professional rugby in England.

Even if we say 50% of those are not English qualified, that would still leave 18 players available to choose from. 

And yet for years England have selected either a regular 10 (Owen Farrell), or a regular 13 (Henry Slade) to fill the 12 shirt whenever Tuilagi is unavailable through injury (which, let’s face it, is a reasonably regular occurrence). Neither Farrell nor Slade have made a particularly bad job of it, either, but it is true that England do lack Tuilagi’s line-breaking heft when he is not available.

Not that replacing Tuilagi with someone “like for like” is easy – his talents are somewhat unique after all – but at least Eddie Jones might try. For a while, between 2015 and 2019, Ben Te’o was utilised, not entirely unsuccessfully, in a similar role before falling out of favour, and last year Ollie Lawrence was dabbled with but given scant opportunity. 

There is every prospect that Tuilagi will be back in the mix come the Wales match in two weeks time but if, as Eddie says, it is useful to have a power runner in the centres to make space for some of the lighter, more creative backs, then surely it is incumbent on the England coaching staff to identify and develop players to fulfil this role in Tuilagi’s absence, rather than to keep selecting players out of position.

To not do so would be, as Sam Warburton has said, “ inexplicable.”

Total Flanker – the older I get, the better I was