Sharks can smell blood now Manu’s on board
MANU Tuilagi’s arrival means Sale are locked, loaded and ready to challenge for their first Premiership title since 2006, says fit-again lock Josh Beaumont.
Beaumont believed his season was over when he tore a patella tendon against Wasps last November. However, the coronavirus delay means the 28-year-old second row now has an unexpected shot at glory alongside Springboks heavyweight Lood de Jager.
With Tuilagi adding his dam-busting abilities to a midfield already containing the impressive Rohan van Rensburg, Exeter signing Sam Hill and brothers Luke and Sam James, Sharks supremo Steve Diamond looks to have forged a squad capable of mounting a trophy charge.
Beaumont, below, told The Rugby Paper: “It’s definitely better to have Manu in your team than playing against him. You’ve seen what he’s done for England over the last 12 months and when you speak to our South African guys, you realise what a top signing he is.
“Guys like Lood and Faf de Klerk won the World Cup but they’re still a bit in awe of him – and that showed in the respect and reception they gave him last week.
“When you hear guys from around the world speaking of his quality like that, it can only be good for the club. You can see what Manu means to England whenever he’s come back because he gives them a boost, so it’s going to be the same at club level too.”
Second-placed Sharks resume their campaign against Harlequins on Friday week.
Beaumont added: “If we can provide our backline with clean ball and give guys like Manu a platform, it’s a very exciting prospect and hopefully we can consistently be top two.
“Our midfield options are really strong, which is important in this league, and when you can also start a guy like Sam Hill it shows where our depth is going. We’ve got a really exciting backline across the board that will help us compete in all competitions.”
After appearing for England against the Barbarians last summer, Beaumont’s hopes of a post-World Cup call were dashed by that poorlytimed knee injury.
A regular Red Rose squad member since first being summoned by Stuart Lancaster in 2015, he said: “Playing for England is still a big ambition of mine, especially after being in squads for the last four of five years, and it’s something I’ll always strive for.
“But I’m coming back from a pretty serious injury right now and the one fortunate thing about the coronavirus break is I can still get back to finish the season, whereas I would have had no chance at all before lockdown after tearing my patella tendon.
“It’s quite a common injury with second rows and jumpers in the lineout anyway, but I’ve also had tendonitis in my right knee and it’s hard to constantly rehab and manage that, so you always worry about something major happening. Unfortunately, in my case it did and then it took a bit longer to get right after I’d been operated on pretty quickly.
“But I’ve been back running for over a month and went back into full training a fortnight ago, so while I might not make the first game, I shouldn’t be far away.”
Beaumont would relish the chance to partner World Cup winner de Jager, adding: “He’s world-class so to have him as a replacement for Bryn Evans is great.
“Bryn’s a guy I played a lot of rugby with and he’s an awesome player, but Lood’s really keen to get going now after just one bench appearance before the break.
“We’ve been a bit light on locks but hopefully Cobus Wiese will arrive soon and he’ll add to our stocks. Matt Postlethwaite has had some good experience now and we’ve got James Phillips as well, so we’ll have good second row options when we resume.”