Tuilagi to leave some bruises on Bristol

Reports coming out of the Sale Sharks camp indicate that Manu Tuilagi will be back with a vengeance on Friday night when they take on log-leaders Bristol Bears. 

Tuilagi was in barnstorming form on Tuesday during one of Sale’s contact sessions, so much so that director of rugby Alex Sanderson had to rein the 29 year-old in. 

“Manu is in great shape. He looks massive. Not out of shape massive, just strong as a bull,” Sanderson said. 

“The lads did some live tackling and he basically gave them a bit of a bump. I had to stop him from running because he was just running through them. It’s really exciting to see. He looked scary out there. Scarily powerful. 

“Manu is up for selection on Friday but with the caveat that this is not something we want to rush, it really isn’t. Take from that what you will in terms of the minutes he could play if he was selected. 

“A lot of it is taken on the advice of the medical staff and his own feelings of confidence going into the game. For me, I’d back him to go on the Lions tour.”