Northern Edition

Select Edition

Northern Northern
Southern Southern
Global Global
New Zealand New Zealand
France France

Manu Tuilagi reveals new nickname after making England's RWC squad

England centre Manu Tuilagi has revealed a new nickname (Photo by Getty Images)

Eddie Jones has a new nickname for Manu Tuilagi – “the pinball machine”. The Leicester centre didn’t think he would get the chance to be the subject of the England coach’s humour in the build-up to the World Cup, but he was glad to be the reason for some amusement at the squad announcement on Monday for the finals in Japan. 

ADVERTISEMENT

Tuilagi and the World Cup have not been happy bedfellows. The centre was fined by the RFU and cautioned by police after jumping off a ferry as it docked in Auckland harbour after England were knocked out of the 2011 World Cup in New Zealand. 

He was then charged with assaulting a police officer in 2015, with then-coach Stuart Lancaster deciding he could not pick a player who had been involved in that kind of incident. If left him ignored for the tournament England were hosting.

Various serious injuries in the years since 2015 put 28-year-old Tuliagi’s career in jeopardy and it has taken an incredible amount of physical and mental effort to allow him to claim one of the 31 places in the England squad for Japan.

Fresh from winning his 33rd England cap in the win over Wales on Sunday, Tuilagi said: “I worried I wouldn’t play in another World Cup. I didn’t think I would be in this position again and so it exciting to be around these players and it is so special. 

“I’m excited to see where the players can take this team. Eddie started calling me ‘pinball machine’ because of my break against Wales at Twickenham and I also have the nickname ‘Chief’!

“Looking back now when I had all of the injuries, all I was thinking about was playing for England again. That is what pulled me through – it was the light at the end of the tunnel.

ADVERTISEMENT

“The 2011 Cup does seem a very long time ago in terms of rugby because I have been out a lot with injuries and I’m just thankful I am still playing. There were a lot of dark days between the last World Cup and this one. For me to just go out and train and do what I love is the main thing.

“I was watching the 2015 tournament at home and I felt for the boys. That is now long gone and the boys have moved on and the focus is all about taking the learning experience and bring it to this World Cup and we will be much better for it. 

“It makes me smile just to be on the team bus pulling up at Twickenham because in the past I took it for granted about being on the pitch and training which is why I now always play with a smile on my face.

“For me, it is a massive honour to represent England at the highest competition in the world. I’m excited and want to make the most of it.”

ADVERTISEMENT

WATCH: Owen Farrell talks to Nick Heath of RugbyPass following Monday’s RWC England squad announcement

Video Spacer
ADVERTISEMENT

LIVE

{{item.title}}

Trending on RugbyPass

Comments

0 Comments
Be the first to comment...

Join free and tell us what you really think!

Sign up for free
ADVERTISEMENT

Latest Features

Comments on RugbyPass

J
JW 3 hours ago
'Passionate reunion of France and New Zealand shows Fabien Galthie is wrong to rest his stars'

Ok, managed to read the full article..

... New Zealand’s has only 14 and the professional season is all over within four months. In France, club governance is the responsibility of an independent organisation [the Ligue Nationale de Rugby or LNR] which is entirely separate from the host union [the Fédération Française de Rugby or FFR]. Down south New Zealand Rugby runs the provincial and the national game.

That is the National Provincial Championship, a competition of 14 representative union based teams run through the SH international window and only semi professional (paid only during it's running). It is run by NZR and goes for two and a half months.


Super Rugby is a competition involving 12 fully professional teams, of which 5 are of New Zealand eligibility, and another joint administered team of Pacific Island eligibility, with NZR involvement. It was a 18 week competition this year, so involved (randomly chosen I believe) extra return fixtures (2 or 3 home and away derbys), and is run by Super Rugby Pacific's own independent Board (or organisation). The teams may or may not be independently run and owned (note, this does not necessarily mean what you think of as 'privately owned').


LNR was setup by FFR and the French Government to administer the professional game in France. In New Zealand, the Players Association and Super Rugby franchises agreed last month to not setup their own governance structure for professional rugby and re-aligned themselves with New Zealand Rugby. They had been proposing to do something like the English model, I'm not sure how closely that would have been aligned to the French system but it did not sound like it would have French union executive representation on it like the LNR does.

In the shaky isles the professional pyramid tapers to a point with the almighty All Blacks. In France the feeling for country is no more important than the sense of fierce local identity spawned at myriad clubs concentrated in the southwest. Progress is achieved by a nonchalant shrug and the wide sweep of nuanced negotiation, rather than driven from the top by a single intense focus.

Yes, it is pretty much a 'representative' selection system at every level, but these union's are having to fight for their existence against the regime that is NZR, and are currently going through their own battle, just as France has recently as I understand it. A single focus, ala the French game, might not be the best outcome for rugby as a whole.


For pure theatre, it is a wonderful article so far. I prefer 'Ntamack New Zealand 2022' though.

The young Crusader still struggles to solve the puzzle posed by the shorter, more compact tight-heads at this level but he had no problem at all with Colombe.

It was interesting to listen to Manny during an interview on Maul or Nothing, he citied that after a bit of banter with the All Black's he no longer wanted one of their jersey's after the game. One of those talks was an eye to eye chat with Tamaiti Williams, there appear to be nothing between the lock and prop, just a lot of give and take. I thought TW angled in and caused Taylor to pop a few times, and that NZ were lucky to be rewarded.

f you have a forward of 6ft 8ins and 145kg, and he is not at all disturbed by a dysfunctional set-piece, you are in business.

He talked about the clarity of the leadership that helped alleviate any need for anxiety at the predicaments unfolding before him. The same cannot be said for New Zealand when they had 5 minutes left to retrieve a match winning penalty, I don't believe. Did the team in black have much of a plan at any point in the game? I don't really call an autonomous 10 vehicle they had as innovative. I think Razor needs to go back to the dealer and get a new game driver on that one.

Vaa’i is no match for his power on the ground. Even in reverse, Meafou is like a tractor motoring backwards in low gear, trampling all in its path.

Vaa'i actually stops him in his tracks. He gets what could have been a dubious 'tackle' on him?

A high-level offence will often try to identify and exploit big forwards who can be slower to reload, and therefore vulnerable to two quick plays run at them consecutively.

Yes he was just standing on his haunches wasn't he? He mentioned that in the interview, saying that not only did you just get up and back into the line to find the opposition was already set and running at you they also hit harder than anything he'd experienced in the Top 14. He was referring to New Zealands ultra-physical, burst-based Super style of course, which he was more than a bit surprised about. I don't blame him for being caught out.


He still sent the obstruction back to the repair yard though!

What wouldn’t the New Zealand rugby public give to see the likes of Mauvaka and Meafou up front..

Common now Nick, don't go there! Meafou showed his Toulouse shirt and promptly got his citizenship, New Zealand can't have him, surely?!?


As I have said before with these subjects, really enjoy your enthusiasm for their contribution on the field and I'd love to see more of their shapes running out for Vern Cotter and the like styled teams.

287 Go to comments
TRENDING
TRENDING Michael Hooper reacts to Scott Barrett’s controversial late-game call Michael Hooper reacts to Scott Barrett’s controversial late-game call
Search