How much do England miss Manu Tuilagi?

[Rugby Jubbly]

This video shows how important Tuilagi is for England and that there is no one who can fill his boots

 

[mania]

yeah agree. tuilagi's one of WorldRugby's genuine power centres

 

[Ragey Erasmus]

I think England are perfectly capable of doing well without Tuilagi, I think the main problem is we continue to try to play like he's there when he isn't. It took us ages to adapt after his first injury (the wingers never used to see the ball before, something we are getting back to for different reasons). It is a problem with how Jones is coaching England, he has his favourite team in his mind and is building his tactics around that team. That's all well and good except when any of those players are not available he doesn't appear to change tactic. In a way the kicking game may be his answer, it's a gameplan you can play with pretty much any players as long as your 9 and 10 can do the kicking game well.

 

[Cruz_del_Sur]

This video shows how important Tuilagi is for England and that there is no one who can fill his boots

Actually, i don't think that video does that. I think he is incredibly more important. That video shows most of his breaks and tries. He does way more than that.
I think the most important thing he brings to the table is the space he creates for others. Say he's playing at 12, i guarantee you that opposition's @7, 13 and 15 have half their focus on their men and half on him. The impact aint just mental, it's positional too. He is the kind of player for which defenses have to be built around for.
As appreciated as he is, i still think he is underrated.

 

[Reiser99]

Actually, i don't think that video does that. I think he is incredibly more important. That video shows most of his breaks and tries. He does way more than that.
I think the most important thing he brings to the table is the space he creates for others. Say he's playing at 12, i guarantee you that opposition's @7, 13 and 15 have half their focus on their men and half on him. The impact aint just mental, it's positional too. He is the kind of player for which defenses have to be built around for.
As appreciated as he is, i still think he is underrated.

I agree with this. Tbh most of those tries came from running excellent lines or finishing moves. Very few were from his raw power. There are actually quite a few players in the world who can run excellent lines like that, though possibly England are lacking some at the moment. It's the breaks and the defenders he draws in that is his real asset. He opens space up in defences by breaking the gainline or committing defenders. Tbh at the moment Tuilagi wouldn't have had much of an impact this autumn anyway. With the new breakdown laws and the way England played a very kick orientated game I don't think Tuilagi would have got much opportunity with the ball. In fact with the new breakdown laws his breaks could actually lead to more penalties for holding on. Jones has decided not to focus on attack until after the Lions tour, so until then it's hard to know how missed he is if players like Lawrence aren't given the chance to attack properly and show their skills.

 

[Vieux Talonneur]

Manu has made some big contributions for Eng but he's had plenty of quiet games too.

The point about creating space for others is well made. But fundamentally his, and Binny's, reputations were made on smashing down doors and rampaging right through them. That's a bit of it's time as defences have got more organised and opposition players have got bigger and stronger. Both those 2 are big powerful blokes but neither really look like the (in the nicest possible way) freaks they did when first bursting on the international stage.

It also depends how you want to play. If you want to try to make a metre from slow ball then Manu's probably your man. But his all round game had glaring weaknesses - defensive alignment was often poor, kicking non existent and passing average at best. Certainly didn't have the same awareness of space that someone like Slade does.

Injuries and analysis have curtailed both his and Binny's effectiveness. If they're available and fit they have a part to play. But it's long been folly to build any form of game plan around them. Both have been injury prone for some time and there aren't like for like replacements and never have been.

Manu's had some good games since, of course he has. But if you ask which was his best game for Eng I suspect most people would hark back to NZ in 2012 which is a couple of lifetimes in sporting terms.

Rugby's intensely physical, but the days of just giving it to the biggest boy in the playground and expecting them to cause damage have probably gone.

 

[higgik]

The combination of Ford, Manu and Slade has always been my favourite. Two playmakers with the power in the middle. Just the lines Manu makes create gaps in defence that can be exploited by Ford and Slade.

It is the issue atm. EJ loves Farrell.

I would give Itoje the armband and drop Farrell, still leaves the issue of who to put at IC.

 

[Scotty]

This video shows how important Tuilagi is for England and that there is no one who can fill his boots

They'll never make a video of it but its the often the work he does off the ball that makes the difference, running a hard line drawing in a player to not get the ball but the damage is done.

I really thought him and Slade was going to be Englands partnership going forward.

Lawrence could be great in the future but totally different player and we need to not play as if we are waiting for manu to returning.

 

[Vieux Talonneur]

Absolutely right. If Manu's available then he's an option, but nothing more now. It really is time to move on.

Fabulous player on his day but isn't, and never has been, a panacea.

Lies, damned lies, statistics, Stuart Lancaster era and all that, but according to ESPN.....

Tuilagi - 43 caps 2011 - 2020. 65% win rate and virtually the same at club level.

Joseph - 54 caps 2012 - 2020. 77% win rate.

Slade - 34 caps 2015 - 2020. 84% win rate.

 

[Ragey Erasmus]

Absolutely right. If Manu's available then he's an option, but nothing more now. It really is time to move on.

Fabulous player on his day but isn't, and never has been, a panacea.

Lies, damned lies, statistics, Stuart Lancaster era and all that, but according to ESPN.....

Tuilagi - 43 caps 2011 - 2020. 65% win rate and virtually the same at club level.

Joseph - 54 caps 2012 - 2020. 77% win rate.

Slade - 34 caps 2015 - 2020. 84% win rate.

Whilst I get the point that's being made, Tuilagis early years coincided with when England were absolutely awful whilst JJ and Slade have been involved since England have become much better. A more fair assessment would be looking just at the games Tuilagi played under Jones.

 

[Don't Skip Leg Day]

Yeah and Slade and Manu actually compliment each other really well. I think that it worked and it should have been the mould we continued with. I'd Manu drops out replace him with a bosher, if Slade drops out, replace with JJ.

we just seem to chop and change what works and then go back to a Ford, Farrell 10/12 which looks poor without Manu at 13 as Slade needs more space to work in.

Its all about balance but Eddie doesn't seem to agree all the time.