Centre Manu Tuilagi is set to make an emotional England swansong against France on Saturday even as head coach Steve Borthwick retains hope that the centre will remain in the Premiership.
The 32-year-old, who is involved in his first England game since last year’s World Cup, is out of contract with Sale Sharks who are resigned to losing him this summer with a host of overseas clubs circling. Leaving the Premiership would make Tuilagi, who is in line to win his 60th cap, unavailable for selection by Borthwick under present Rugby Football Union regulations.
Borthwick denied picking Tuilagi as a replacement for the final Six Nations match this weekend was a sympathy selection after a 13-year Test career, emphasising that he still “impacts games” which is why he wants him to stay in the Premiership.
“I’m hopeful that he’ll be staying in England, there’s no plans confirmed as yet to my understanding,” Borthwick said. “But I’m hopeful he will stay in England. Manu adds huge amounts to this squad, he’s a player who impacts upon people and he impacts upon games, and I’m looking forward to seeing him impact upon this game on Saturday night.
“Ultimately that’s up to Manu and the opportunities that present themselves within England and his representatives. From my point of view, he knows I would want him to be in England, I want all our best players playing in England.
“Players always earn their opportunity to wear an England shirt and wearing an England shirt is special. Playing for the England team is special. It’s brilliant to have Manu in the 23 this week. We’ve had a lot of competition for places. Manu has trained well and looked sharper and sharper. He’s in the 23 to make an impact coming off the bench.”
Tuilagi comes on to the bench with Elliot Daly replacing the concussed Immanuel Feyi-Waboso as the only change from the starting XV that defeated Ireland 23-22. Flanker Ethan Roots also comes on to the bench in place of Chandler Cunningham-South, who has a calf injury.
England are looking to record their first four-win campaign since the Covid interrupted the 2020 Six Nations which could give them an outside shot of winning the title if Scotland upset Ireland in Dublin. England’s last win against Les Bleus in France came in their 2016 Grand Slam campaign.
England will need all of Tuilagi’s power to combat a monstrous looking French team who steamrollered Wales in the final quarter last week in Cardiff. The French forwards, including their replacements, weigh close to 1,000kg.
Last year, France used both their size and speed to inflict England’s heaviest ever home defeat, a bleak 53-10 defeat at Twickenham. “I was very open at that point in time about where England were, we were a long away behind those top teams in the world,” Borthwick said. If that was the low point of Borthwick’s reign as head coach, the defeat of Six Nations champions Ireland represented the high as England played with a thrilling panache.
Yet Borthwick says that while England are developing their own unique style, they will not be able to simply replicate the formula that worked so effectively against Ireland in Lyon. “You have got to fit the way that you play to the strengths that you have,” Borthwick said. “You have got to fit the way you play to the nature of the competition that your players are in, the Premiership, and that it feels something that they can achieve. From that point, you have got to gradually evolve it. We aim to be a little bit different this weekend. We’ve got to pose different questions to France than what we posed to Ireland last week.
“There’s a two-fold challenge (against France). One, of their incredible size and power – six-two bench, huge forward pack, huge forwards on the bench to come on. So they have that size and power. They have also got incredible pace in their backline. So depending on how you try and play against that, you are either dealing with the power or you are dealing with the pace.
“So tactically, we are going to have to be very smart. Tactically we want to make sure we are on the money with what we do. So that then we limit their opportunities. “And then we know there is a physical challenge. Test match rugby is a physical challenge. And the two teams probably that pose the biggest physical challenge right now are South Africa and France. And we know that’s coming on Saturday night, we’ve been preparing for it, and I look forward to seeing this next step of our team.”
