ALEX SANDERSON MEDIA SESSION 08/03/2023

MANU TUILAGI BEING AWAY WITH ENGLAND THIS WEEK- SHOULD HE HAVE BEEN WITH SALE?

“He could and that would have been a benefit to us but I want him to play for England as I have said. It’s important he keeps his face in there for this World Cup. That was always our aligned ambition a couple of years ago, around when I joined two years ago when I went for that walk with Manu in Macclesfield Forest. We said let’s get you playing your best rugby and get you in that World Cup squad. I am holding true to that and I do believe it. I think he is where he needs to be at the moment.”

WIN AGAINST SARACENS AND RESILIENCE SHOWN IN COMEBACK

“I asked the leaders the opening question what was the best thing about the comeback. That’s what I had in mind. You go back to the week before and it was 30 minutes of a poor performance and it took us to half-time to take a breath and gather ourselves and to come out in the second half with a plan and some intent. We turned that around in half-time as a team in Exeter. Whereas last week we turned it around 25 minutes in under the sticks themselves, purely themselves. So that’s a really good sign. Once you have got a team which can take control and shift the momentum of the game on their own volition and through their own input, a team that drives themselves, that’s a rare thing and what the best teams have. We have done it once in recent examples but it is something that we are going to continue driving in training and I have complimented and thanked them for it.”

SIGNIFICANCE OF SUNDAY

“It dawns on you afterwards because you are so in the bubble of the game, process and messages and trying to keep a level emotional keel despite the panic. You then step back, I gave Ged Mason, Simon and Michelle Orange a cuddle on the pitch. They were chuffed for me and said it was the first time I had beaten Sarries and that hadn’t even come into my reckoning. It’s been and done that, it’s 2 years post it. It was everything we are striving towards as a team and an organisation, women’s and men’s. The full house, the Bach 95 which was rocking afterwards. The coverage with ITV and BT; it was one of those golden days where a lot of efforts seemed to come to fruition. So really happy and grateful. I didn’t even need to go out afterwards for a beer. I was content with the fact that for that one day, for that fleeting moment things seemed to be working. But then you have just got to get over it quickly and striving to get better. But for that day things like that make you realise you are part of something bigger than yourself and it did feel like that at the weekend. It’s a magic feeling that I will remember and keep chasing.”

JONNY HILL

“He has just got on with it on the surface. He has just cracked on. He has been frustrated on some of the elements he has been told to work on and I think he has improved on that. Some of the focus England have around the set-piece. He believes he is fulfilling a lot of those requirements. We statistically have the best maul in attack and defence in the league. That hasn’t been the case in the last few weeks I might add. Over the course of the season he has been driving that. All he can do is keep putting in performances like he did at the weekend. He was back there training well on Tuesday. It’s a step closer, that’s what we have talked about.”

JOE CARPENTER

“He keeps turning out performances. I dare say a lot of how we go about winning the middle and squeezing and pressurising teams gives him those opportunities to counter from. That was certainly the case at the weekend. He topped the all-time clean breaks record that anyone has had for this club. Take into account some of the back three we have had; Jason Robinson, the great Steve Hanley, Mark Cueto. We have had some decent runners. It shows his pedigree and that’s how he is now at 21. Very exciting if we can keep improving him which is the aim.”

RYAN MILLS

“The improvement you have seen on the field we have already seen in training. He is no shrinking violet. He is very forthright in communicating his opinion which is brilliant in terms of the experience and knowledge he has. That’s what we have asked of him. He has proven to be a really good signing.

“His is one of a few that is up for negotiation debate around the changing flow of the salary cap. He is in the mix, he has got a ticket but as yet it has not been clarified.”

GEORGE FORD

“He is one of the world’s best players as we know on form and it’s our job to get him on form. If there is one thing he needs even if England haven’t realised that which I’m sure they do is game time. So he will feature in some capacity on Sunday.

10-12-13 AXIS FOR SUNDAY’S GAME AT LONDON IRISH

“We haven’t decided on combinations. I am open. It’s not wholly me. This is a selection syndicate we have. We take in all the input and then I will have the last word. But it’s never without counsel and influence from the guys I work with and the players I talk to. We all feel it’s not settled at the moment. We have got some real quality players there and it’s up to us to find the best combinations with that.”

MANU TUILAGI’S FUTURE

“If it has sounded contradictory that’s because it was with the ever changing flow of the salary cap which means that from one week to the next you can have substantially more money to offer players and retain players in this case. That’s what has happened with us. I am not at liberty to discuss and disclose why. That will come out in the wash. I have spoken to Manu. We caught up briefly with him on Saturday as he came back before he want again on Sunday. There’s something on the table there when there was very little, almost an insulting amount for Manu’s quality but now there is something there. The ball is more in his court than it is ours.

“What Manu has done because he wants to stay is giving us as long as possible and that was always the case. We said there’s nothing right now for these reasons to him but something could happen. The longer you leave it the better chance of that happening because of the shifting face of the salary cap, injury dispensation and the rest of it. We can’t guarantee but we are hoping to find a way. We have found a way but whether or not it’s enough we still haven’t had that conversation yet. It’s still ongoing. I do know he has got offers in France and Japan. Him not moving on is because of his desire to stay here which I think is commendable. It’s brilliant for us. I am gutted we haven’t managed to get it to work to this point.”

“Two years ago it was never in the plans. This was always a World Cup swansong and then cash in because he could. That was the plan and that has changed over the last year because he loves it here and we love him so much. So his plans have changed so we have tried to flex with that.”

INJURY UPDATE

No fresh injuries from the weekend, come into this week fresher compared to last week after Exeter and stronger squad with players coming back (Ford, DDP)

Tom Curry- running today, but only running, on track for Cardiff

Daniel du Preez- been training this week, got him back two weeks early, available for selection

Akker van der Merwe- not quite there in terms of some of his nerve damage in his arm, but it is getting better, unlikely for this weekend

Connor Doherty- did his first unit session today, pretty sharp and smashing people

England boys have come back in good health, “keen as mustard to play”

OTHER NEWS

Knows the challenge facing us this weekend away at London Irish, knows how dangerous they are in the loose and in the last quarter of games, not giving them anything in the wide channels

Spoke about striving to improve and get better

Rob du Preez not on Springbok watchlist for the summer internationals, only 3 Premiership players on Bok watchlist- Jasper Wiese, Jean-Luc and Handre Pollard, no DDP as he has been injured, sung Rob’s praises for his performance on Sunday, had a hand in most of the tries

6 dominant tackles for Tom Roebuck, unheard of for a winger

Jonny Hill probably had his best game for us

Only spoken with Richard Hill from England about George Ford, who has been really helpful, not Steve Borthwick

Spoke about agreement PRL and RFU have about England players being released, this is the deal that was signed so clubs have to deal with it, can understand why England think firstly about themselves although it is frustrating for the clubs

Discussed England 10 situation- Farrell one of the best leaders he has worked with, best placed at 10, Smith ‘the prodigal son’, a rare talent, George is probably somewhere in between, experience to guide the game and quality with ball in hand and with feet, overall skillset is unparalleled. Steve Borthwick should pick on form, he has got to know what he has got moving forward. Wants George to play for England

No cut-off point for Manu’s decision, breathing space for Manu to decide what’s best for him and his family, main two driving factors

Some players who the club thought were going to be retained aren’t, money that was going to be reserved has now opened up, within a 45-man squad there is always going to be more movement than what you can predict