Why Manu may not be the player the club misses the most

LOSING players you’d probably rather keep is never a pleasant experience for a sporting organisation, but finances have dictated that is what has happened to Leicester Tigers.

While there are still persistent reports that the door remains open for a return, the current state of play is that Leicester have parted company with Manu Tuilagi, Telusa Veainu, Noel Reid, Kyle Eastmond and Greg Bateman. There is still confusion over the status of Jordan Taufua as news is awaited following quarantine and travel.

Given the number of departures, it seems logical that at some point communication wasn’t particularly well handled, but as a previous Leicester director of rugby was wont to say, we are where we are.

Given that, it is true that things could be worse, doubly so if we also assume the club has taken appropriate legal advice and won’t be on the hook for ruinous compensation on the basis of breach of contract.

Tuilagi’s departure is the biggest headline, and the loss of a worldclass star who came up through the club’s academy hurts, but Tuilagi’s injury record and his unavailability through England commitments does raise questions regarding the level of his salary.

If Tuilagi secures another English club, in contravention of the rumoured gentlemen’s agreement, then he will almost certainly come back to bite the Tigers, but if he goes to France or Japan, it will just be another reason that no English club will be competitive in Europe for some years.

Veainu is possibly the most exciting player on the Tigers’ books but, at 30 and a relatively big earner, some might argue his best years as an outside back are behind him. Noel Reid has been decent enough, but has done nothing to suggest he’s irreplaceable, and Kyle Eastmond does miss an awful lot of rugby through injury and suspension. Greg Bateman is a very good prop (and a very nice and intelligent man) but the cynical would again say he is not irreplaceable.

Taufua’s position will be key. Perhaps controversially, I would argue he would be the biggest loss. His form last season, in a misfiring pack, was excellent.

A even bigger question will be whether those who remain are truly committed or whether they have simply accepted that they have no choice.