Perfect timing
Tuilagi blows Scarlets away to boost England hopes
Manu Tuilagi advanced his hopes of returning to England’s midfield for the autumn Tests by delivering a performance laced with such ferocious power in this impressive Champions Cup victory over the Scarlets to suggest the Leicester centre’s long-standing injury woes may finally be behind him.
It was Tuilagi’s second-half try that finally edged this enthralling contest in Leicester’s favour to move them top of Pool Four and keep their qualifying hopes alive after last week’s defeat by Ulster.
The Leicester centre, who won the last of his 26 caps in March 2016 because of a succession of injuries, powered through five defenders from close range to brighten up a gloomy week for Eddie Jones, England’s head coach.
Injuries deprived Jones of 16 players when he announced his squad on Thursday, so the return of Tuilagi to this kind of barnstorming form is most timely.
The Scarlets could not handle Tuilagi’s power and he finished the match with 13 carries over a total of 89 metres. “The main thing for us was to get the win,” said Tuilagi. “It is nice to get a few games under my belt and try to stay fit and hopefully I will get there [with England].”
Tuilagi’s try also secured the bonus point for Geordan Murphy’s side, who had returned from Belfast last weekend with nothing to show from their opening match against Ulster. Murphy is in no doubt that Tuilagi is playing his way into contention for England.
“His game was amazing,” he said. “He gets better every week. It is very difficult with Manu as you want to give him time, but the way he played tonight he certainly has a shot at getting selected [for England].
“England have some quality players, so that’s up to Eddie. Any player who has had bumps and bruises, you just want five or six games to get back. He has been good for us in the last few weeks. That try was world class.”
The victory was founded on Leicester’s traditional strengths, with their power at the scrum and line-out, and direct running, narrowly edging out the Scarlets’ counter-attacking flair. The Scarlets had threatened to spring a surprise when they came back into the contest for the second time with their third try, by Blade Thomson, before tries by Tuilagi and Jonny May settled the contest that all but ends the Welsh region’s hopes of reaching the quarter-finals.
The second half had mirrored the first, with the Scarlets clawing themselves back into the contest, despite surrendering possession and territory, but ultimately failing to quell the Tigers’ power plays. George Ford also delivered a commanding display, kicking 20 points.
Despite losing captain Tom Youngs before kick-off because of an illness, Leicester took control of the contest with a try by Harry Wells after Ford had landed the first of his four penalties.
Yet, just as it appeared as though Leicester had delivered the perfect start, the Scarlets sprung to life, and their ability to score from deep without a sustained attacking platform brought them back into the game. Leigh Halfpenny missed a long-range penalty attempt, but a jinking counter-attack by the Wales full-back culminated in a try for Gareth Davies, who exploited the space created after his exchange of passes with David Bulbring.
The manner of the concession appeared to knock Leicester off their stride and the Scarlets came agonisingly close to snatching the lead when openside flanker Thomson slid over from five metres after an arching run by Halfpenny and slick hands by Jonathan Davies.
But a last-gasp tackle by Ford just managed to dislodge the ball. Moments later, though, Scarlets were level after Guy Thompson had been penalised at a breakdown in front of his own posts.
Thompson was at least able to make amends, however, when he picked up a tough pass from Mike Williams to score just before half-time after Wells had stolen the ball at a breakdown and Ford had prised open the Scarlets’ defence with an inside pass to May.
A Halfpenny penalty, however, left the contest on a knife-edge.
Leicester’s scrum dominance allowed Ford to stretch their lead
with his second penalty and then they took control of the game again with a try by Sione Kalamafoni after strong carries by Tuilagi and Will Spencer.
Yet just as the narrative appeared to switch to whether or not the Tigers could claim a four-try bonus point, once again the Scarlets responded with a rapier strike, with Steff Evans crossing for a try after a neat exchange with scrum-half Davies.
The Scarlets then managed to intensify the pressure by taking the lead when Thomson was able to finish off a counter-attack by Davies after Ben Youngs had failed to clear his lines effectively with a poorly placed kick that left his side’s defence disjointed.
It was left to the brute force of Tuilagi to salvage Leicester’s night.
Jonathan Davies managed to prevent the concession of another try as he managed to stop Jonah Holmes from scoring as he crossed the line. But Ford’s penalty gave Leicester further breathing space before May completed the victory.