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It's just as well Leicester are practically safe as Manu Tuilagi to remain sidelined
Leicester have confirmed the worst regarding Manu Tuilagi – the centre won’t feature again for the Tigers this season.
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Geordan Murphy’s side slipped to 11th spot following last weekend’s Welford Road loss. However, despite that defeat to Bristol, they are nine points clear of bottom side Newcastle with two games remaining.
With relegation now unlikely, there will be no rushing Tuilagi back into the fray for the closing fixtures versus Harlequins this Friday and against Bath on May 18.
“Manu will miss the rest of the season,” said Geordan Murphy as his weekly Tigers’ media conference. “He pulled his hamstring against Newcastle and that is a three or four-week injury, so he will be out until the season is done for us.”
The 27-year-old, who shunned a money-spinning offer from Racing 92 in March, had started three consecutive league matches following his return from Six Nations duty with England.
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His appearance in the vital win April 12 over Newcastle was his 17th of the season, his highest rate of availability since the 2012/13 season when he appeared on 21 occasions.
However, Tuilagi limped away from the Kingston Park nail-biter after 71 minutes with an injury that initial left Murphy uncertain of its seriousness.
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“We haven’t had a conclusive report on his hamstring yet, but Manu definitely did something to it so he will be out for a period of time. We’re just not sure how long that will be,” said the coach at the time.
“He has had hamstring injuries before so we are hoping we can speed that up and he will feature for us before the end of the season.”
Confirmation of Tuilagi’s stint on the sidelines coincided with Murphy admitting Kyle Eastmond is a doubt to challenge for a place in the Tigers midfield at the Stoop, but full-back Telusa Veainu came through his brief run-out against Bristol without any reaction.
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“Kyle will be touch and go for the weekend,” Murphy continued. “He has made a really good recovery since his hamstring strain. It may be a few days too early to play but we are hoping he will be available for Friday.”
WATCH: Part three of the RugbyPass series on the Leicester Tigers academy
