MOST PLAYERS WHO spend 15 months out of rugby through injury return and get to speak about how they spent their time on the comeback trail.
Unfortunately for Manu Tuilagi, he had made his rehabilitation period distractions very public.
11 months ago the Leicester and England centre was arrested and charged on three counts of assault, including two on female police officers.
Even if the troublesome groin injury hadn’t kept him out of the Rugby World Cup, Stuart Lancaster made it known he would have no part to play in the squad after the then 23-year-old was found guilty and fined £6,205 (€7,967).
After a brief recall to train with Eddie Jones’ England squad this week, the powerful centre didn’t want to dwell on his legal troubles.
“I don’t really think about it. It’s the past – there’s no point thinking about it. It’s a waste of energy.
If you think about it you get down again so you think about the future and it’s exciting. That is what I will focus on.”
The injury Tuilagi had to focus on recovering from for 15 months was a troublesome groin.
The 24-year-old says there were times he feared his career might have even been ended by the problem, particularly during nights when the pain woke him from a deep sleep. His parents made the winter trip from Samoa to help to keep him on the straight and narrow:
“The return kept moving further and further into the distance. I tried to come back three times and it was definitely too early. I had good people around me - I had my mum, dad and brother here for Christmas – they stayed for four months and that was good.
“They came over and I kept them here for a bit longer because it’s a long way back home.”
“When you’re out for a long time it can get quite hard mentally.
I just kept thinking about when I was going to get back playing again. I kept thinking that there’s going to be light at the tunnel and it did come in the end – thank God.
“It was an unusual injury and it was very painful most of the time, especially when I’d just done it.
“You can’t really move and even when you’re in a deep sleep, if you move it a little bit, you wake up.
“It’s brilliant to be back playing, especially because it’s been a long time with the injuries. I’m really excited to get back on the field and every time I’m on the field, I’m smiling.
“You definitely realise how much you miss it when you are not playing.
“Sometimes we take it for granted being a rugby player and doing what we love doing.”
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