Manu Tuilagi ruled out of Leicester Tigers’ clash with Harlequins
Manu Tuilagi has been ruled out of Leicester Tigers' clash with Aviva Premiership champions Harlequins at Welford Road this afternoon.
The inside-centre has picked up a knock and his absence could be an important loss for Tigers going into the repeat of last season's Premiership final.
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Manu Tuilagi
Although the club were unable to confirm what the injury was, or the extent of it, it is believed it is not a long-term problem.
It means that Matt Smith takes over from Tuilagi, pictured, for his first Premiership start of the season alongside Anthony Allen.
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Jordan Crane, who missed most of last season after having surgery on an on-going knee injury, will also make his first league start when he leads out Tigers this afternoon, with a kick-off 5.30pm.
The No.8, who has been on the bench for all three of Tigers' opening Premiership fixtures, has been named captain in the absence of Geordan Murphy, who suffered a knee injury in the 9-9 draw against Saracens at Wembley last weekend.
This means Scott Hamilton reverts to full-back in place of Murphy, with Niall Morris filling in on the wing.
Props Logovi'i Mulipola and Dan Cole make up the last of the changes as they make way for Boris Stankovich and Martin Castrogiovanni, who start in the front-row alongside hooker Tom Youngs.
Summer signing Adam Thompstone could make his Tigers debut as the winger has been included among the replacements.
Top-of-the-table Harlequins make three changes to the side that defeated Sale Sharks 37-14 last weekend.
Matt Hopper starts at outside-centre, replacing George Lowe who took a knock during training this week.
In the forwards, Olly Kohn returns to partner George Robson in the second-row, while Maurie Fa'asavalu joins Nick Easter and captain Chris Robshaw in the back-row.
Comments
by leicesterish
Monday, September 24 2012, 6:15AM
“I have to agree, I'm not usually one to complain after a loss but the manor of capitulation was very poor. My biggest concern is our lack of invention. We're missing three of our best when it comes to making something happen (Youngs, Murphy and Manu) and without them we've become very pedestrian.
I didn't count a single break from our stand-in scrum half, every back row move consisted of Crane taking the ball into contact and not even attempting to pass, the backs simply passed right to left and i don't recall Hamilton coming into the line once. Tom Youngs remains a major concern at the lineout and, dare i say it, the scrum looked weaker with Castro in there (heresy!)
All in all, a bad day at the office. I've not seen a Tigers side give up like that at Welford Road in many a year, the games during last seasons world cup don't count, but all is not lost. With a bit of luck we'll get the injured guys back before long and displays like that can only serve to strenghen the resolve of the team as if it obvious to the fans what was wrong, you can be sure that it will be obvious to those who know what they're talking about! We're down, but far from out, there's always next week!
'Quins have developed the offload game and manage it perfectly whereas Tigers simply go left to right, and back again. Even with Manu in the side I feel we're missing a gamebreaker. With Waldrom on the bench even the back row looked poor, Crane is a fine player, but he's not good enough to replace the tank and i sincerely hope we don't see a return of Cockerill sitting Waldrom on the bench in favour of Crane every week, if we see that, we'll lose him.
I gave us a B+ V's Sarries, but it was a D- V's Quins, no invention, poor decisions, poor game management and, for the first time in a long time, poor team management.”
by carlnicol1
Sunday, September 23 2012, 1:06PM
“Manu was badly missed!
We had opportunities to kick for the corner and maximise our early pressure, bad decision to Kick and miss, we could have got 7pts but got none.
The Tigers Character, Guts & Determination were not on show, need to bounce back ..... Big gap in class between Harlequins & Tigers.
Need to get the best players on from the start.”