Manu Tuilagi wins his 50th cap on Saturday with Richard Cockerill revealing how close it came to being for Samoa rather than England.
Having missed twice as many Tests as he has played due to injury, Sale’s wrecking ball centre has taken 11 years to finally reach his half century. He would not even have got off the mark but for Cockerill, then boss of Leicester, the Rugby Football Union and three Leicestershire MPs going into bat for him in 2009.
“He was bowling people over at 17 and I knew then he was going to be a special talent,” said the now assistant England coach. “Then I found out he didn’t have a visa and might have to go home. That was a slight issue.”
