Manu Tuilagi is poised to return to the England side for their crunch game with France at Twickenham on Saturday afternoon after the impact he provided off the bench against Ireland in England’s 12-6 victory. Tuilagi who was England’s chief destroyer in their famous victory over New Zealand in the autumn had been injured for the start of the tournament; he had then seen his former Leicester teammate Billy Twelvetrees put in two very accomplished performances against Scotland and Ireland. Tuilagi played for Leicester last weekend as they went down at the hands of defending champions Harlequins but with French heavyweight centre Mathieu Bastareaud set to start, Stuart Lancaster is likely to opt for the Samoan-born centre to match his physicality.
Twelvetrees who had played with Tuilagi at Leicester until this season when he moved to Gloucester in search of greater first-team opportunities, could not have dreamed of a making a better impact in his first two international matches. Twelvetrees’ inclusion came as a large surprise as pre-tournament he was at least fourth choice centre behind Barritt, Tuilagi and Jonathan Joseph but two injuries and the youngster was thrust into the 12 jersey for England’s Six Nations opener. Twelvetrees scored a try and complemented Barritt’s defensive capabilities as he gave England their most well-balanced centre combination seen under Stuart Lancaster. Twelvetrees may not have had the impact at the Aviva Stadium against Ireland that he did against Scotland but with an accurate right boot he gave Owen Farrell an extra option in the horrific conditions.
Stuart Lancaster’s decision to bring back Manu Tuilagi is not a surprising one but the decision to bring him back in the centre is. Tuilagi was fit for England’s last match against Ireland but was left on the bench however perhaps the conditions that day favoured the tactical game of Twelvetrees but still to bring back Tuilagi into the centre after praising the balance and extra creativity that the young Gloucester centre brought is surprising.
As bad as France were, recalled centre Mathieu Basteraud stood out almost by himself as he constantly got over the game line in midfield as his daunting presence is the most likely reason why Tuilagi will be selected. Bastareaud is likely to partner Clermont’s Wesley Fofana, who after two appearances on the wing is finally to be picked in his preferred position after Maxime Mermoz was dropped. Fofana has been the outstanding centre in European rugby for the last year in the club game and Heineken Cup and quite why he has been selected somewhere else is quite bizarre.
France could also make a change at half-back where fellow Clermont player Morgan Parra is in line for a recall instead of Maxime Machenaud. Parra was shortlisted for European player of the year and along with Fofana, he helped drive Clermont to 6 wins out of 6 in the group stages of the Heineken Cup this year, including back to back wins over Leinster. Despite two horrendous performances over Italy and France, Freddie Michalak is set to continue at fly-half, perhaps French coach Philipe Saint-Andre does not believe that the Toulon player cannot possibly play as badly once again and in truth it would be hard for him to be any worse than he was against Italy. The problem for Michalak is that he does not play fly-half for his club Toulon as he finds himself behind Jonny Wilkinson and Matt Giteau so all of his starts come at scrum-half so he enters the international scene with no form behind himself in game management.
With away trips to London and Dublin before a home match against Scotland, France could contrive to finish last on point’s difference to Italy if they lose to England and Ireland. However as bad as this France side have played thus far one must remember that they were the only northern-hemisphere side to win all of their autumn internationals and one feels that a big performance is just around the corner. For England’s fans one hopes that is does not come this weekend at Twickenham but with England full of confidence following their first away win in the Six Nations in Ireland since 2003, their last Grand Slam, they should be too strong mentally and tactically for this France side.
