Rugby videos of tackles, tries, funny incidents and more: Manu Tuilagi's well timed tackle vs Northampton Saints

Wednesday, January 12, 2011

Manu Tuilagi's well timed tackle vs Northampton Saints

Manu Tuilagi put in another impressive performance this past weekend as Leicester Tigers beat Northampton Saints 27-16. He hasn't been selected for England duty though, surprising some.

The young Samoan born centre was featured here on RD last month as he put in a smashing tackle on Tom Williams. Since then he's kept up his form and many had predicted that the dynamic 19 year old could be turning out for England in next month's Six Nations.

Tuilagi has grown up in England and after nearly getting deported a while back, has committed to playing for the country, despite his brothers having represented Samoa. They are fully behind his decision though, as he's actually played at England Under 16, 18, and 20 levels.

"My baby brother has more talent and is a better player than the other five Tuilagi boys. If he were called up for England, he'd be ready," said brother and teamate Alesana recently.

Martin Johnson however, although being impressed with recent performances, has opted to not include the youngster in his Six Nations plans, instead option for Riki Flutey, Shontayne Hape, and Mike Tindall as their centres.

There is some consolation for Tuilagi in that while he wasn't selected for the Saxons either, Dom Waldouck seems to be suffering with injury, so the Tigers center might get a call up. If it doesn't happen now though, you can be sure that it will in the not too distant future.

The short clip below was requested and features yet another solid tackle from the young man. It also includes a bum moment for another Tigers player.

Please remember you can view Aviva Premiership highlights from all the weekend's matches on the e-player on the sidebar, on the right. Scroll through to find this game, and catch up on the best of all the other games while you're at it.

:: Related Posts ::
Manu Tuilagi's smashing tackle on Tom Williams

Time: 01:05

first!

By Anonymous, at January 13, 2011 1:01 am
Well done anonymous, great comment. Seriously maybe I'm too old to understand, but what is it with this 'first' claim people put in the comments? Just seems a bit pathetic really...

Anyway, good tackle from Manu, not big but well timed - good to see he hits legally. Just to say RD, I'm pretty sure he didn't score in this match though!

By coops, at January 13, 2011 2:01 am
I hate stuart barnes

By Anonymous, at January 13, 2011 2:26 am
almost old skool in its style, compared to the hits of today. Worked well though.

A bit 'cheeky' from Leicester later on thou....bit of a rearguard action........I could go on......

By mise, at January 13, 2011 2:35 am
Great technique from Manu. Still too raw for International rugby, but what a bright future he has!

You also get a cheeky shot of Agulla with his shorts down about 0:26...

By Maverick, at January 13, 2011 3:08 am
England would be remiss if they at least didn't get him into the Saxons side, this guy has too much potential to pass up, even if it's a lil way down the road.

Then again, I'd rather see him in Samoa blue, they need all the players they can get.

Pretty sad state of English domestic development on 12's that 2 of the 3 in the current side are foreign born and trained, the third is on his way out and the prospect was considered for deportment.

Just thought of this but does manu's style remind anyone else of Scott Gibbs?

By Canadian content, at January 13, 2011 3:33 am
Manu has the potential to be a phenomenal talent. He has the speed of Alesana and is a better tackler than Henry (albeit not as powerful). But perhaps most importantly, if he should play for England, he will be virtually free of "islander syndrome", he'll be able to make these sort of tackles and harder without fear of being penalised for playing honest, passionate rugby, i.e. tackling hard and running very hard, the principles upon which rugby is based.
Should Manu go on to become a major star, which I've no doubt he will, perhaps he will draw attention to the plight of the islanders, who, in my opinion (as an irishman), play some of the most authentic rugby in the world, despite accusations of "illegal tackles" and "rough play". It is my contention that teams the likes of Samoa, Fiji and Tonga, although rated as second tier, play the purest rugby in the world, unfettered by the ridiculous beaurocracy of the IRB.

By wow-jiffy-lube, at January 13, 2011 4:44 am
BTW apologies for the redonculously long comment.

By wow-jiffy-lube, at January 13, 2011 4:45 am
@coops, I think we're all too old to understand :)

And yeah, you're right. I was thinking of the previous weekend when he scored.

By GMC, at January 13, 2011 9:28 am
deserves a call up, as the rugby club said this player needs to get into the first team soon. A Saxons six nations would definitely help fastrack him to the elite squad.

By cp85, at January 13, 2011 10:17 am
Good fair tackle although nothing out of the ordinary, I think Stuart Barnes only commented on it because he was expecting himself to be able to hurl a load of Islander-abuse, instead he just related to some of the tackles the other brothers have been penalised for, quite often unjustly. The man is possibly the worst commentator I have ever heard in my life (IMO).
Also why are referees not punishing players who are held in the tackle, numerous times in this clip alone a tackle is completed, the player doesn't release then crawls forward - should be penalties all over the shop!

By Citing Commissioner, at January 13, 2011 10:40 am
i did a tackle like that the other week still in hospital having shoulder reconstruction

By t croft, at January 13, 2011 11:01 am
Barnes is an idiot, you could feel him warming up for a bit of an illegal tackle rant. Manu is looking good, shame to see Lawes and Ashton limp off.

By Anonymous, at January 13, 2011 11:16 am
He's got a dead rat on the head, that's really strange

By Anonymous, at January 13, 2011 12:21 pm
Manu is looking like a really great prospect at the moment. I played against him when he was in the Tigers academy and I have to say, he was terrifying to play against. Id say the hardest ive ever been hit was by him.

Also like to say what a shame it is that dominick waldouk is injured again. He's another talent thats starting to look like a possible future england starter. Shame he always seems to be injured when the six nations come along.

By Anonymous, at January 13, 2011 12:30 pm
@Canadian Content:
Whilst I agree that we have a lack of centres in England at the moment, Manu Tuilagi was trained in this country. He has played from U14 school level all the way to U20 International level so far, and has moved through the whole England youth set up. Unless you want to claim that a player is fully formed by the age of 14...

It would be nice to see Manu in the Saxons to get some experience, but that will not happen until he moves through the U20s. Also Leicester might have a moan, as they would then have lost:
Chuter
Cole
Deacon
Crane
Youngs
Flood
Twelvetrees
Allen
Manu
Hipkiss
to either the Saxons or the EPS...

By RedYeti, at January 13, 2011 2:07 pm
This comment has been removed by the author.

By RedYeti, at January 13, 2011 2:07 pm
Pretty good tackle, but hey how about those butt cheeks?

Jiffy lube,you're right. The islanders always get screwed. If they got more than a week to work together and a budget of an NFL players weekly salary they would be taking some serious scalps.

New Zealand wants to keep them as poor cousins.

By TB, at January 13, 2011 4:27 pm
i hate stuart barnes as well

By Anonymous, at January 13, 2011 4:43 pm
Stuart Barnes is an arse bandit.

By Chris, at January 13, 2011 5:53 pm
Islander syndrome? What the fuck is that you racist faggot? Even when an Islander puts in a great hit people still start talking about Islanders badly. Bloody racists.

By ty, at January 13, 2011 7:27 pm
@ty you misunderstood me, I was saying that Islander Syndrome was when Islanders get penalised unfairly for making great tackles. If you'd read the rest of my post you would've seen that I praised Islanders for their own particular brand of rugby.

By wow-jiffy-lube, at January 13, 2011 8:55 pm
maybe a bit of racism there from 'ty' instantly assuming that a comment about the islanders was racist...read the full post b4 u get up on ur high horse mate

By Anonymous, at January 13, 2011 9:53 pm
I only found out the other day that NZ hasn't played a test in any of the Pacific Islands - they always make them come to NZ. For a country that has a large input of players from this area, and for one as comparitively rich as NZ, that is seriously wrong.

Pacific rugby would benefit hugely if Aus and NZ started playing away tests against Tonga, Samoa and Fiji.

By coops, at January 13, 2011 11:29 pm
Good exciting game where both teams played well (even though there was a little amount of 'off-vall' by Northampton - Go Tigers! Manu is a very exciting player and needs to drafted into international soon. Anonymous said that they hate Stuart Barnes - can't agree more!!! Wayne Barnes on the other hand is the best ref in the world at the mo!

By Andy M, at January 13, 2011 11:54 pm
@wow...

I did read the rest of your post. The meaning of "Islander syndrome" would still have been unclear even if most of your post was postive.

@anon saying I'm racist

As I said, I read the comment and considering how much bashing Islanders get around here it's quite understandable how the term could be seen as negative.

By ty, at January 14, 2011 1:35 am
from an outsider...

ty...stfu!

You are the only one who had a gripe whilst the rest of us got it in one...so either you are being an annoying pain in the ass or you are as thick as pig shit...

either way, like i said, stfu..

By Resident Troll, at January 14, 2011 2:08 am
You aren't an Islander mate. Naturally, you'd view the term "Islander syndrome" differently to me.

Pretty tough over a keyboard by the way...

By ty, at January 14, 2011 3:50 pm
@ty don't worry about Troll, look at his name.

If you are an islander and were inadvertantly offended by my comment I apologise but I thought I had made it clear that I was complimenting them. Now lets relax, no more pointless flexing over the internet or accusations of racism. This is a rugby blog not a dick-measuring contest.

By wow-jiffy-lube, at January 14, 2011 5:43 pm
he'd get ruined at international level. overrated in my opinion

By Brian, at January 14, 2011 5:54 pm
@Citing comissioner
I agree with you, but I have a "legal" question: in that play the tackled player tries to ge up and run forward, and anu holds him. However, the ballcarrier did not release the ball and the tackler didn't release the player... which penalty should have been sanctioned?

By Anonymous, at January 14, 2011 6:02 pm
no worries mate. just a misunderstanding.

by the way, racism is quite blatant on this site, although not in this thread it seems, particularly against islanders and there was no internet flexing

By ty, at January 15, 2011 12:01 am
Aiight cool bro. Usually on here any racism is just from trolls tryin to get attention. It's nice that we can sort any disagreement out with rational discussion. G'luck man.

By wow-jiffy-lube, at January 15, 2011 4:27 am
"He's got a dead rat on the head, that's really strange"

It's on loan from Quade Cooper until the S14 - err, Super 15 - starts back up. Or maybe it's Corey Jane's turn again. I can never remember.

By David Bowie's makeup kit, at January 15, 2011 2:30 pm
Any one else notice that if he didn't get tackled by Manu, who was waiting outside?

By MoPaH, at January 15, 2011 2:32 pm
fuck of ty. everyone knows islanders are the dirtiest players in the game. its not racism, its just a fact. your players hit dirty so get over it. fucking idiot. every week there's an islander caught giving a dirty tackle.

By james, at January 15, 2011 6:20 pm
@james check out highlight videos of, say, Jonny Wilkinson's best tackles from a couple of years back and tell me that they are any less "dirty". The game has been softened up in recent times, players are being penalised for doing exactly what they should, i.e. putting the opposition down hard and fast, and Islanders are th best at doing this. If our soft refs and players can't handle it, more fool them. Islanders are hard men and harder players.

By wow-jiffy-lube, at January 15, 2011 7:25 pm
cheers for proving my point james.

By ty, at January 16, 2011 8:37 pm