Sale 28-5 Stade Francais: Marvellous Manu Tuilagi earns his Malbec with a thunderous comeback for hosts in demolition of French side… and perhaps a new contract too!
- Manu Tuilagi turned in a stunning performance in his first match of the season
- He galvanised Sale Sharks as secured a bonus-point win over Stade Francais
- Director of Rugby Alex Sanderson said Tuilagi, aged 32, is ‘playing his best stuff’
Manu Tuilagi earned himself a ‘decent’ bottle of Malbec with a thunderous comeback for Sale — and the England centre’s hard-hitting performance may also help to earn him a new contract.
Having recovered from the hand fracture which he sustained at the World Cup, Tuilagi marked his first club appearance of the season by taking some punishment and dishing out plenty more in return.
His impact galvanised the Sharks to claim a bonus-point victory over Parisian visitors who had rotated their squad for the trip across the Channel and duly paid the price in Salford.
Alex Sanderson, Sale’s director of rugby, revealed in the build-up to this Champions Cup Pool 4 clash that he would be using wine as a motivational tool for his Anglo-Samoan midfield veteran and asked if he did enough for a liquid reward, he said: ‘Yes he did. He was sensational today.
‘He seemed to get more physical, the more hits he took. He took one off the kick-off and he got one off that centre so he went, “Right, they’re having it”, came up with a pile-driver tackle and carried consistently hard all day. Manu is back, which we are very happy about.’
Manu Tuilagi made his first appearance of the season for Sale after fracturing his hand at the World Cup
He galvanised his team to claim a bonus-point Champions Cup victory against Stade Francais
Asked to be more specific about the prize he would be presenting, Sanderson said: ‘It’ll probably be a Malbec. It’ll be a decent one, because he likes his wine. I’ll make sure I don’t disappoint him.’
Tuilagi certainly didn’t disappoint. He maintained an intense level of physical commitment for the full 80 minutes, which is something he has often struggled to do throughout his career. ‘He looked so energetic,’ said Sanderson.
‘When we put Connor Doherty on with 15 to go, Manu looked up as if he was coming off and Connor said, “No, you’re staying on”. But it didn’t look like he wanted to come off.
‘He wasn’t moving slowly. He looks fit. It’s a really good sign that he’s probably got another couple of years in him.
‘Manu is 32 and he’s playing his best stuff. This is as robust as he’s ever been. He’s still out there signing autographs. He’s absolutely loving it.’
When pressed on whether Tuilagi would be offered a new contract, Sanderson revealed that Sale will have a recruitment meeting tomorrow. He said: ‘It’s not entirely down to me. We have a selection syndicate, with someone who holds the purse strings. But if he plays like that, yeah he will earn a new deal.
‘I imagine he’ll want to get his life sorted and we’ll want to get our planning done before the Six Nations.’
Sale ground down Stade and eventually claimed three tries which was the least that their dominance deserved — with Tom O’Flaherty, Jonny Hill and the magnificent Sam Dugdale touching down for the home side.
Alex Sanderson hailed Sanderson for ‘playing his best stuff’ aged 32 and said he would earn a new deal if he plays as he did
Sale will have a recruitment meeting on Monday and Tuilagi’s future will likely be discussed
England scrum-half Raffi Quirke was sharp and influential when he came off the bench — in front of the watching national coaches, Kevin Sinfield and Richard Wigglesworth.
Sanderson had spoken last week about his club’s motivation to prove a point after being written off as the ‘whipping boys’ in a bona fide pool of death. They certainly did that, but as he said: ‘It’s just a start.’ And it doesn’t get any easier next weekend, as Sale take on mighty Leinster in Dublin on Saturday.
The man in charge is bound to make changes, but whatever lineup he puts out, the expectation will be that the Premiership leaders won’t just cross the Irish Sea to accept their fate.
‘We are not going there to dip our toe in,’ he said. ‘We are not going to sit back and let them dictate.’
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