SALE OF THE CENTURY
Tuilagi will give Sharks renewed bite says Charlie
CHARLIE HODGSON says Manu Tuilagi’s arrival at Sale Sharks is a massive step towards reawakening one of English rugby’s sleeping giants.
Tuilagi yesterday completed his move from Leicester to Salford, where he teams up with Red Rose pal Tom Curry and World Cup winners Faf de Klerk and Lood de Jager.
And Sale legend Hodgson believes the Premiership high flyers now have a squad to compare with the one he helped become champions for the only time in 2006.
“I believe that the squad they already had was capable of winning the Premiership,” said the former England and Lions star.
“But Manu is a formidable player who when fully fit makes a massive impact.
“There’s a lot of other top sport to contend with in and around Manchester, what with football and rugby league, but Sale is one of those sleeping giants.”
The 2006 Sale side blended the homegrown talents of England quartet Jason Robinson, Mark Cueto, Richard Wigglesworth and Hodgson with overseas stars Sebastian Chabal and Juan Martín Fernández Lobbe.
“It was a great mix of international experience and youth and when I look at this squad now it appears very similar,” said Hodgson, right.
“There’s no reason I can see why they can’t go on and succeed, though the question with Manu is can he stay injury-free and how much will Sale be able to use him given England’s demands?”
With a Lions tour next summer and Eddie Jones’ England team playing catch-up on the post-Covid fixture front, Sale boss Steve Diamond acknowledges that Tuilagi’s signing from the Tigers is as much about growing the club off the pitch as demolishing opponents on it.
As Diamond said: “Manu will be a fantastic commercial and playing addition to our squad.”
Sharks do not get close to filling their 12,000seater stadium and plan to move back to Sale. Having Tuilagi as part of the club’s brand will only help. Hodgson, whose 11 years at Sale also brought two European Challenge Cups, doffed his cap to Diamond for getting the deal done.
“Dimes has been very good,” he said. “He’s quite open about the fact he can bring in lost souls and give them somewhere to almost reinvent themselves and kick start their careers again.
“He’s willing to take a punt on people. But he also knows the value of having a settled squad and that by building one around the academy you start to create this real northern flavour.
“People are at Sale not because they’re using it as a springboard to somewhere else but because they want to play for that club.”