Eddie Jones puts Manu Tuilagi on the bench for England’s crunch with Wales

 

 
Manu Tuilagi will make his long-awaited return to Test rugby against Wales after being named in England’s squad for Saturday’s crucial Six Nations fixture at Twickenham. The Leicester centre has taken Alex Goode’s place among the replacements, with Wasps’ Elliot Daly retaining his place on the bench.

Tuilagi has not played for England since June 2014, having been sidelined with a groin problem for 15 months. Richard Cockerill, the Tigers’ director of rugby, suggested at the weekend it would be unwise to recall him prematurely but England’s head coach, Eddie Jones, clearly feels it is a risk worth taking.

The Northampton tighthead Kieran Brookes has also nudged out his club-mate Paul Hill, with Joe Launchbury replacing the injured Courtney Lawes. Exeter’s Luke Cowan-Dickie has been retained as cover at hooker for Jamie George, who hurt an arm at training on Tuesday.
It seems, though, that England will stick with the same starting XV that defeated Ireland last month. That would mean a second start for Saracens’ Maro Itoje in the second-row and Ben Youngs staying at scrum-half ahead of Danny Care. Retaining Daly also gives Jones the luxury of an extra specialist centre, which would almost certainly ensure Tuilagi is not needed until the second-half.

Within the England dressing-room, either way, the big man’s return will be warmly received.
“Wherever Manu plays, even if he has a bad day, someone will still get taken down or he is going to run through someone,” said the Wasps flanker James Haskell. “Very few players have the ability to do that but Manu is pretty special. He’s pace, power and strength personified. I have played with him against some of the best teams in the world and he causes everybody trouble.”
Wales’s head coach Warren Gatland, meanwhile, has warned England’s fly-half George Ford to brace himself for a testing examination after naming an unchanged starting XV. “We won’t disappoint George Ford in terms of where we go on Saturday,”he said. “We won’t be throwing the ball all over the place, we will be pretty direct. We’ve got players to get us across the advantage line … hopefully when we do we can play some pretty positive rugby.”

Gatland believes there is no reason Wales cannot repeat their dramatic Rugby World Cup pool victory at the same venue. “The guys are training well and we are treating Saturday like a final. It will be one heck of a game and whoever wins probably wins the Six Nations.”
He is also looking forward to pitting his wits against Jones who, in his view, has added “a bit of an edge” to England. “He has been honest and opinionated and I think that’s been great for the game. It sounds like his players are really enjoying the environment and thriving on that.
“When he does say something out of turn it is important the media don’t jump on him, otherwise he will clam up and stay quiet. Give him the licence to speak his mind and say what he wants to say without analysing everything.”

England (probable) M Brown (Harlequins); A Watson (Bath), J Joseph (Bath), O Farrell (Saracens), J Nowell (Exeter Chiefs); G Ford (Bath), B Youngs (Leicester); J Marler (Harlequins), D Hartley (Northampton, captain), D Cole (Leicester), G Kruis (Saracens), M Itoje (Saracens), C Robshaw (Harlequins), J Haskell (Wasps), B Vunipola (Saracens).
Replacements: J George (Saracens) or L Cowan-Dickie (Exeter Chiefs), M Vunipola (Saracens), K Brookes (Northampton), J Launchbury (Wasps), J Clifford (Harlequins), D Care (Harlequins), M Tuilagi (Leicester), E Daly (Wasps).

source : http://www.theguardian.com/sport/2016/mar/08/eddie-jones-manu-tuilagi-six-nations-wales