Tuilagi’s time
Tigers star must take it slowly to win over Jones
You can understand the relief at Leicester Tigers this week after Manu Tuilagi’s citing was dismissed. For Tuilagi to be in the frame for England’s Six Nations campaign next year – and I am not certain Eddie Jones will be keen to rush him back – he needs to string a run of games together.
When you have been injured since the first week of the season, and have suffered a number of injuries over the past few years, the danger is that when you do return, the frustrations come out on the field.
For all his training, you can never replace match practice, because it gives you game understanding. You see things on the field earlier. Instead, when you come into the season at this stage, when everyone else is up to speed, there is no way training prepares you for that on-field challenge, particularly against a team like Munster in Europe.
Tuilagi is a big impact player, but the danger is any returning player trying to make an impact all the time, or as early as possible. Managing that is quite important. You could see he was desperate to be in the game, but also that his decision-making was half a second behind those around him.
As a coach you want him to have key involvements, but also not to do everything he would expect to be doing when he is 100 per cent match fit, which currently he is not. He was trying to do things almost in the wrong positions and at the wrong time.
The potential risk of that approach is also that may lead to another injury, because of that desperation to make a big impact in the game. From Manu’s perspective, the most important thing now is that he gets a run of 10 to 12 games. It has a huge impact on the way you play, and as a result you relax, you build up your confidence.
Leicester understandably are excited by what Tuilagi might be able to achieve alongside Matt Toomua as a centre partnership. In the Australian, Tuilagi has another team-mate that he can play off. Not everything has to be about him.
Jonny May, who has been electric since arriving at Leicester, is another player who can help. Having those two, May and Toomua, either side of Tuilagi, you can look at evolving attacking shapes and options which do not always focus solely on Manu’s power. It gives him a structure and an identity – which times he should have his hands on the ball – because he has two outstanding attacking players around him.
As a coach, you can highlight the key areas where he should be involved, and initially it is often the case that there are fewer ways into the game for a player making a comeback, but those ways are well practised in training, you do a smaller number of things exceptionally well and build from there. That will make Tuilagi’s impact on the game much greater.
Regarding the citing itself, after Tuilagi made contact with the head of Munster flanker Chris Cloete in a dangerous tackle, the charge is a reflection of the times at the moment. If there is head contact then there will be citings.
That is why there has to be clarity about Tuilagi’s game involvement, so he does not get to a point of frustration where he is trying to make an impact in the wrong area or at the wrong time.
He does have a template where he can be extremely effective. That was on display in England’s win against New Zealand in 2012; his patience, decision-making, crucial carries. He can look back on that victory and say: “That is what I’m about. That is how I can make an impact.” At Leicester too they will go back over his best performances and say the same thing, pointing out when he is at his best.
Now Tuilagi needs half a dozen games under his belt. Then you build back up that decision-making process in his head that will make the really good calls when it matters.
Jones will, I believe, give him time. Last weekend Manu did look as though he had not played for three months or more. It would be unfair to put him under England pressure without having built up that mental understanding again for Leicester. Can he play in the Six Nations? He has proved that he can in the past. Personally, the priority now is strengthening that timing on the field and making sure he stays injury-free.
Tuilagi is a handful to deal with if the team is putting him in the game on his terms. You can see he is desperate to do well, especially in what feels like an enormous game on Christmas Eve.
Both Leicester and Saracens will see it as a must-win game. Saracens played outstandingly in Clermont, albeit in defeat. Leicester, meanwhile, were much better in the second game against Munster but have come off the boil. They are still trying to define the way they want to approach games. Having Manu back allows Matt O’Connor to build that plan around his key players.
It feels unusual to be talking about two teams of that calibre taking positives out of defeats. Neither club is built on that. Both of them are built on winning and a collective environment that challenges them, which is why, for the neutral, the game tomorrow is such a fascinating fixture, given that both teams are fully capable of winning.
One factor Leicester will have learned from the Munster fixture is that you cannot give away 10 penalties in the first half and expect to dominate a game. That has been one of their recent downfalls; they have been getting on the wrong side of referees or giving away silly penalties which allow their opponents to ease the pressure or put points on the board.
Leicester have been in transition over the past two to three seasons and O’Connor is trying to redefine the way they play. They do not have that dominating physical pack which the backs can play off any more. They cannot dominate as they used to.
They have to choose who is carrying and when, which is where Tuilagi is so important. And getting the team to understand how to make him ultra-effective at getting across the gain line is critical for improving his confidence, as he bids to get back to his best.
The priority now is strengthening timing on the field and staying injury-free