Manu Tuilagi reflects on a ‘brilliant’ campaign after making his comeback in Dublin

Manu Tuilagi feared he would miss the whole Six Nations after being sent off playing for Sale last month, so the glass-half-full character reflected on a ‘brilliant’ campaign after making his comeback in Dublin.

It wasn’t a brilliant campaign for England, as Steve Borthwick’s team slumped to three defeats in five games. But on a personal level, there was satisfaction for Tuilagi as he stayed in camp despite having to serve an untimely ban and earned a start against Ireland last weekend.

That had seemed a faint prospect just a few weeks earlier. The 31-year-old centre was omitted from the matchday 23 by Borthwick for the opening two rounds of the championship and then his predicament worsened. Sent back to Sale for vital game-time, he was shown a red card after thrusting his arm into the face of Northampton wing Tommy Freeman in a Premiership fixture.

With Ollie Lawrence re-establishing himself at the heart of England’s back line, there appeared a genuine danger that Tuilagi wouldn’t represent his country again. But Borthwick kept him training and he was up to speed when his suspension ended — allowing him to step in when Lawrence suffered an injury against France.

At the Aviva Stadium on Saturday, Tuilagi took the fight to Grand Slam champions Ireland with a trademark hard-carrying, hard-hitting performance. Afterwards, he said: ‘I have missed it and I loved every minute of it. It was disappointing not to win, but we said we wanted to show how much it means for us to play for England and I think we did that.’

Manu Tuilagi (pictured above) feared he would miss out on England’s Six Nations campaign 

The 31-year-old star was sent off during Sale’s clash with Northampton Saints last month

It wasn’t a great campaign for England, as they slumped to three defeats in five games

Asked about his reaction after being sent off for Sale, Tuilagi added: ‘I thought, ‘Oh man, I might not be able to get a game in the Six Nations’.

‘It’s tough, I haven’t been playing as much as I would like. But also it’s been brilliant to be around the team and to keep that connection, especially with the opportunity to play this week. It would have been tougher to just come in, but Steve’s been brilliant to keep me in and around the team.

‘With Ollie unavailable, there was the opportunity for me to come in and I really enjoyed it. I’ve enjoyed this whole campaign, actually. It gave me time to look at my game again and see what I can improve.’

Tuilagi was frustrated by his limited involvement, but he isn’t one to feel resentful. ‘When tough times happen, you can either use it as an opportunity or you can be angry,’ he said. ‘I’ve learned that anger is never good. It can only be bad for you as a person, as a player and the team.’

Having spoken about how hurt England’s players were after their thrashing by France, Tuilagi took heart from the improved display against the Irish, even if the visitors — reduced to 14 men after Freddie Steward was sent off — eventually lost 29-16. ‘It showed that if we get our house in order, we can beat anyone,’ he said. ‘We can be in contention with any team.’

l A six-man shortlist was announced on Monday for the Six Nations Player of the Championship award. There are three Irish contenders (Caelan Doris, Hugo Keenan and Mack Hansen) and three French (Antoine Dupont, Damian Penaud and Thomas Ramos). Fans have until 6pm on Tuesday to vote for a winner.