Manu Tuilagi missed England’s opening Six Nations matches against Scotland and Italy due to injury
(Picture: Getty Images)Manu Tuilagi believes he is ready to start for England against Wales this weekend, which would mark his first Six Nations appearance for almost two years after another raft of injuries.
England have not lost at Twickenham with Tuilagi in the matchday 23 since November 2012, although injury has limited him to just 15 home appearances in that time.
"Yeah I feel good,” said Tuilagi on the BBC Rugby Union Daily podcast, when asked if he was ready to start. “We had a good session today [Monday]. We have a tough day tomorrow [Tuesday].
“I can’t wait. It’s a very exciting week, a massive game against Wales, a must-win game. Twickenham with a full crowd is amazing, the boys can’t wait.
“The body is really good. It’s nice to get out there with the boys. It’s always tough to be injured and in the physio room all the time. To be out training and playing, it’s amazing. I love playing.”
Tuilagi believes shedding some pounds and not lifting too many weights has improved his game as he is lither around the field.
“I’ve had a lot of injuries so me and [Sale team-mate Rohan Janse] van Rensburg had a chat after we lost the [Premiership] semi-final [last year],” he explained.
“We were a bit too heavy, especially with the way the game’s going, it’s pretty fast. Playing at 112kgs is too much when it gets to the 60-minute mark, we start feeling it. If we lose 5kgs we can be involved much more and get more touches than usual.
“I don’t do much weights at the moment, you put on mass quite quick. I do more body weights to make sure the bits that have been injured are strong. In terms of lifting weights, not so much.”
