ENGLAND centre Manu Tuilagi has questioned whether he could play under Stuart Lancaster again should the head coach survive.
Sources close to the Leicester centre said the 24-year-old remains disillusioned with the way he was treated by Lancaster at the time of his arrest in April for assaulting two female police officers following an altercation with a taxi driver. “He feels he was ‘Judased’ by Lancaster,” said the confidant. “For Manu the trust has gone.”
Tuilagi pleaded guilty to the offence and was fined £6,205. Lancaster then dropped him from consideration from the World Cup squad. It was a decision Tuilagi has claimed he only learnt from a press conference. He had only pleaded guilty to ensure the matter was dealt with expeditiously so that he might be considered for World Cup selection.
“Manu is still very angry,” the confidant said. “The way he feels now is that he doesn’t think he could play under Stuart Lancaster again. Don’t take this to mean he has turned his back on England though. Definitely not. He desperately wants to play for his country again.”
Tuilagi is recovering from a groin injury which might itself have ruled him out. With preparations for the official RFU review underway, The Sunday Times can also reveal today the thoughts of a number of senior England players who took part in the tournament from which they were embarrassingly eliminated in the pool stage.
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During the course of the last week, several players revealed why they thought things had gone so badly wrong and the issues that needed to be addressed to ensure England were never subjected to another humiliation on this scale.
All praised Lancaster for his diligence, professionalism, and efforts in changing the culture of the squad to one the country could be proud of. They felt, however, that Lancaster lost his way as the tournament drew nearer and the pressure of being host nation grew. They questioned Lancaster’s limited track record as a head coach, at Leeds, before he was appointed, as well as issues surrounding selection, both in the composition of the original 31-man World Cup squad and during the tournament itself. They also raised concerns about the quality of the coaching team, describing a controlling management environment. Their belief is that a heavyweight experienced head coach with a proven track record must now be appointed.
“We are all embarrassed, hurt and disappointed,” said an England player. “We don’t want a repeat of this in 2019 for whoever is going to be there. The issues need to be put out there. This is a repeat in a way of 2011 but even worse because it was a home World Cup.”