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'It's a whirlwind romance at the minute': Steve Diamond on whether Manu Tuilagi will extend his one-year Sale deal
Sale boss Steve Diamond is hoping Manu Tuilagi will use his injury lay-off to come to a contract extension agreement with the Gallagher Premiership club following his arrival on a one-year deal from Leicester last July.
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Tuilagi fell out with Tigers after they wanted all their squad to agree to make a temporary 25 per cent pay-cut permanent. He left the club along with Telusa Veainu (Stade Francais), Noel Reid (Agen), Greg Bateman (Dragons) and Kyle Eastmond (unattached) and was snapped up by Sale.
Since the restart of the 2019/20 campaign in August, Tuilagi featured in seven of the nine Gallagher Premiership and Premiership Cup matches Sale have played, but he now faces up to six months on the sidelines after suffering an achilles tear at Northampton on Tuesday.
That will rule him out of the league title run-in this month but other than that, coach Diamond doesn’t feel Tuilagi’s injury is a major loss to Sale as he would have been away over the winter and spring with England and would have only become available to Sale again next April following the completion of the 2021 Six Nations.
In the meantime, Diamond will now hope to strike a deal with the 29-year-old that will keep the midfielder at the AJ Bell beyond his initially contracted twelve months.
Steve Diamond reveals just how bad Manu Tuilagi’s injury is. pic.twitter.com/ZhGlzXjXMK
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) October 1, 2020
“It’s a whirlwind romance at the minute,” said Diamond about Sale’s new relationship with Tuilagi, who had spent his entire career until this summer at Leicester. “He’s a great lad. He loves it. He’s passionate. He’s as unlucky as Lood de Jager and as unlucky as Ben Curry.
“I’ll be looking to chat with Manu, definitely. We had a very good shaking hands agreement. He is signed until next July and we’re in no rush to sit down and sort something out, and he’s cool with that. He’s happy. If we can come up with the numbers I think he’d be delighted to stay with us.
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“I don’t know (if he is a loss) because we wouldn’t have him until then, would we? Under the EPS regs and England playing, we wouldn’t get him back until after the Six Nations and then he needs his three weeks rest.
“We’ll probably (now) get eight, nine, ten games out of him with a bit of luck which is what we would only have got anyhow. It’s England’s loss more so than us.
“He had been playing well for us. It was either him or Rohan van Rensburg on the wing on Tuesday night and I chose to put Rohan there, but I’d have put Manu out there this week (against Worcester on Sunday). He has been playing well for us, he trains well, doesn’t make many errors. He picks up everything we’re doing,” continued Diamond, who added he won’t seek out injury cover.
“No. I’ve got both the James brothers, I have got Sam Hill, I have got Rohan van Rensburg, I have got Connor Doherty, so I have got enough centres to be fair.
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Steve Diamond: "It’s brutal what we’re playing at the minute and he took a nasty (knock)"https://t.co/B4IW9kCWYz
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) October 1, 2020
Comments on RugbyPass
“South African franchises would be powerhouses if we had all our overseas based players back in situ. We would have the same unbeatable aura the Toulouses, Leinsters or Saracens of this world have had over the last decade or so.” Proof that Jake white does not understand the economics of the game in SA. Players earning abroad are not going to simply come back and represent the bulls. But they might if they have a springbok contract.
22 Go to commentsA lot of fans just joined in for the fun of it! We all admire O'Gara and what he has done for La Rochelle
3 Go to commentsThe RFU will find a way to mess this up as usual. My bet is there will be no promotion into the the Premiership, only relegation into National League One. Hopefully they won’t parachute failed clubs into the league at the expense of clubs who have battled for promotion.
2 Go to commentsWell that’s the contracts for RG and Jordie bought and paid for. Now, what are the chances we can persuade Antoine to hop over with all the extra dosh we’ll have from living at the Aviva & Croke next season…??? 🤑🤑🤑
3 Go to commentsWow, that’s incredible. Great for rugby.
3 Go to commentsYou probably read that parling is going to coach the wallaby lineout but if not before now you have.
14 Go to commentsIf someone like Leo Cullen was in O’Gara’s place I don’t hear Boo-ing. It’s not just that La Rochelle has hurt Leinster and O’Gara is their Irish boss. It’s the needle that he brings and the pantomime activity before the game around pretending that Munster were supporting LaRochelle just because O’Gara is from Cork. That’s dividing Irish provinces just to get an advantage for his French Team. He can F*ck right off with that. BOOOOO! (but not while someone is lying injured)
3 Go to commentsDid the highlanders party too hard before the game? They were the pits.
1 Go to commentsWhat a player! Not long until he’s in the England side, surely?
2 Go to commentsHe seems to have the same aura as Marcus Smith - by which I mean he’s consistently judged as if he’s several years younger than he actually is. Mngomezulu has played 24 times for the Stormers. When Pollard was his age he had played 24 times for South Africa! He has more time to develop, but he has also had time to do some developing already, and he hasn’t demonstrated nearly as much talent in that time as one would expect. If he is a generational talent, then it must be a pretty poor generation.
4 Go to commentsThe greatest Springbok coach of all time is entirely on the money. Rassie and Jacques have given the south african public a great few years, but the success of the springbok selection policy will need to be judged in light of what comes next. The poor condition that the provincial system is currently in doesn’t bode well for the next few years of international rugby, and the insane 2026 schedule that the Boks have lined up could also really harm both provincial and international consistency.
22 Go to commentsJake White is a brilliant coach and a master in the press. This is another masterclass in media relations and PR but its also a very narrow view with arguments that dont always hold water. White wants his team to win, he wants the best players in SA and wants his team competitive. You however have to face up to the reality of a poor exchange rate and big clubs with big budgets. SA Rugby cant compete and unless it can find more money SA players will keep leaving regardless of Springbok eligibility and this happened in 2015 - 2017. Also rugby is not cricket. Cricket has 3 formats and T20 cricket is where the money is at. When it comes to club vs country the IPL is king but that wont happen because the international calendar does not clash with the club calendar in rugby. So the argument about rugby going down the same path as cricket is really a non-starter
22 Go to commentsNZ rugby seem not to have learnt anything from professional rugby. Super rugby was dying and SA left before they died with the competition. SA rugby did a u turn on their approach to international players playing overseas and such players are now selected for Bok teams. As much as each country would love to retain their players playing in local competitions, this is the way the world is evolving my friends. Move with it or stay 20 years behind the times. One more thing. NZ rugby hierarchy think they are the big cheese. Take a more humble approach guys. You do not seem to have your players best interests at heart.
3 Go to commentsBeaches? In Cardiff? Where?
1 Go to commentsHe is right , the Crusaders will be a threat. Scott Barrett, ( particularly), Fergus Burke , Codie Taylor, ( from sabbatical) etc due back soon for the Crusaders. There are others like Zach Gallagher too. People can right the Crusaders off, Top 8 , here we come !!
1 Go to commentsWe will always struggle for money to match the other sides but the least the WRU can do is invest properly in Welsh rugby. Too much has been squandered on vanity projects like the hotel and roof walk amongst others which will never see a massive return. Hanging the 4 pro sides out to dry over the last decade is now coming back to bite the WRU financially as well as on the pitch. You reap what you sow.
1 Go to commentsWhat do you get if you cross a doctor with a fish? A plastic sturgeon
14 Go to commentsWhat happened to feleti Kaitu’u? Hasnt played in a while right?
1 Go to commentsGregor I just can’t agree with you. You are trying to find something that just isn’t there. Jordie Barrett has signed until 2028. By the end of that he would have spent probably 11-12 years on Super Rugby and you say he can’t possibly have one season playing somewhere else. It is absurd. What about this scenario, the NZR play hard ball and he decides to leave and play overseas. How would that affect the competition. There seems to be an agenda by certain journalists to push certain agendas and don’t like it when it’s not to their liking. I fully support the NZR on this. Gregor needs to get a life.
3 Go to commentsHope he stays as believe he can do a great job.
1 Go to comments