England
Manu Tuilagi's loss will hurt England - but Stuart Lancaster has already moved on
Tom Hamilton
May 16, 2015
Stuart Lancaster and Manu Tuilagi celebrate England's 2013 Six Nations victory in Ireland
Stuart Lancaster and Manu Tuilagi celebrate England's 2013 Six Nations victory in Ireland© Photo by David Rogers/Getty Images

It was the final question of the last press conference of the 2014 autumn internationals. Stuart Lancaster sat at the top table looking content after seeing his team bully Australia and win to put some gloss on a campaign that saw home defeats to New Zealand and South Africa. The fortress had been reinforced but there was one missing ingredient.

"Stuart, if you could add one extra thing to your side, what would it be?"

Lancaster's response? "Manu."

He was the elephant in the room, arguably the only world-class player England boasted at that stage. Six months on and he is out of the squad, having pleaded guilty to three counts of assault and one of criminal damage.

England are now a different beast to the one Lancaster was assessing back in November. The Six Nations saw a new developing partnership in the centres of Luther Burrell and newly-crowned RPA England Player of the Year Jonathan Joseph. When Lancaster was speaking back in November, he had just extolled the virtues of Billy Twelvetrees and Brad Barritt in the No.12 and 13 jerseys. England have options but the news of Tuilagi's unavailability for the World Cup will still come as a bitter blow.

What is admirable is Lancaster's stance - he could have gone down the route of saying the fine Tuilagi received was punishment enough, but that is not his make-up. When he first took on the England reins in 2012, one of his first actions was to exile Danny Care after he was charged with drink driving. The Harlequins scrum-half was not considered for the Six Nations. It was hard for Lancaster, he knew Care from his Leeds days and there were no doubt pangs of paternal guilt, but there are no exceptions when attempting to instil a complete culture of respect and trust.

After the disastrous World Cup in 2011, Lancaster has rebuilt the England team and changed their tune. It seemed that gone were the days of England players making the front pages for off-field exploits so this latest development with Tuilagi will hurt Lancaster.

There were doubts if Tuilagi would even be fit for the World Cup. He has not bulldozed a defender in anger since October due to his ongoing groin issues but the news of his indiscretion sees the final nail smacked into his World Cup coffin.

Other than those directly affected by Tuilagi's actions on April 26, you feel the man who has lost out the most is the player himself. His actions mean he will miss the once-in-a-lifetime chance of playing in a home World Cup. There is a horrible irony over how people frequently refer to how you only have one shot at making the 31-man squad but he will now be watching on while the likes of Joseph, Burrell and Barritt wear the shirt representing England.

For England, if the World Cup had been a year earlier, this news would have been a huge setback. Last summer they were clearly basing their back division around the Leicester centre. They tried him on the wing against New Zealand in Dunedin - it was a case of his being a unique talent worth shoehorning in however possible. But they have moved on.

In Joseph they have a unique talent at No.13 and there are other options to fill the outside centre jersey. The timing means Lancaster can now use the 45-man training squad to weigh up another contender for the centres. Tuilagi's injuries meant he may not have recovered in time for the competition.

There is no further doubt over that. Tuilagi will be hurting. He is aged just 23 - 24 on Monday - but he will seldom make a mistake as big as this.

© Tom Hamilton

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