'Feels ready' for England return after 2 years out

Manu Tuilagi insists he is ready for international rugby after battling back to fitness from a potentially career-threatening groin injury to make his first England appearance in almost two years.

The 24-year-old Leicester centre has been named on the bench by England coach Eddie Jones for Saturday's Six Nations showdown with Wales at Twickenham despite club director of rugby Richard Cockerill insisting he needs 'another five or six games' before being fully match fit.

Tuilagi spent 15 months on the side-lines with a chronic groin condition before his return earlier this season was delayed after three Aviva Premiership appearances when he suffered a hamstring injury.

He has returned to play three full matches for Leicester, although Cockerill was adamant on Sunday after his side's win over Exeter it would be a 'gamble' to pick him for England.

Jones refused to be drawn into a war-of-words with Cockerill but made it clear 'he picks the Leicester team and I pick the England team', while Tuilagi said he feels fully fit and ready to go after completing 80 minutes in Leicester's last three games.

'No, I feel ready,' Tuilagi said when asked if he agreed with Cockerill that picking him was a gamble.

I feel good. I've played six games and I feel ready to go. This is Test rugby and if you get asked to play 40 you play 40. That's just how it is. If you get asked to play however long you've just got to get on with it. I feel I'm ready for any amount of time.'

Tuilagi is most likely to be used as a second-half substitute to combat Wales' powerful midfield partnership of Jamie Roberts and Jonathan Davies.

His selection is sure to frustrate Cockerill and Leicester who have nurtured their prized asset back to full fitness before offering him a big-money new contract midway through this season.

Manu ran two lines on Tuesday and cut a hole in our defence in training,' Jones said. '(Defence coach) Paul Gustard wasn't too happy. He's got power, he's got pace, he's got that innate sense of rugby. He's a good rugby player and he's also got power and pace so that's not a bad combination.

'But I'm not debating with Richard. I don't pick the Leicester side and he doesn't pick the England side.'

Tuilagi suffered a series of physical setbacks in his recovery from the groin injury which saw him play his last game for England in June 2014, while a conviction for assaulting a policewoman earlier this year saw former coach Stuart Lancaster rule him out of the World Cup on disciplinary grounds.

'Obviously being out for a long time is quite tough especially when you get told you're going to be out for a long time,' he said. 'It's quite hard to stay motivated sometimes, especially when you're a bit down.

'For me I just focus on looking forward to when I'm back playing. Now I'm really enjoying every minute of training and playing.

'I tried to rush myself to comeback. I got too eager to come back and play. I've learned with my groin it needed time to heal. It's not like a muscle when you get told it's eight or 10 weeks. For me it's been about taking it month by month.

When I come back too early and got a three or four week set back it was quite hard to start again. Now I'm just really excited to be back doing what I enjoy.

'Wales are a good side. We've studied them. For us, we need to get ourselves right first and we've focused on what we need to do to get things right for this weekend. I'm excited to go out and do the job.'

Tuilagi scored a try in Leicester's Premiership win over Exeter on Sunday and has impressed in the three games he's played since returning from a frustrating hamstring problem which delayed his comeback from the groin condition.

'Being out of the game you get to see a different side of the game and you learn an awful lot as well,' he said. 'I've improved as a player just by watching the game and learning.

'At Tigers we've got some good players as well. Experienced players like (former South Africa captain) Jean De Villiers coming into the team always looking to learn and improve

With Matt Smith and Peter Betham there as well people are always looking to learn and get better.

'It's a learning curve. Injuries as well. You don't want to rush yourself. When you're not playing you're always learning. Those 15 months have been massive for me. I've learned a lot.'

Saturday's clash will see Wales return to Twickenham for the first time since they beat England in their second Pool game in the World Cup.

England lost to Australia the following week to become the first host nation in history not to reach the knock-out stages and coach Stuart Lancaster was sacked shortly following a review of his team's performances.

'We're a new England,' said Jones. 'We don't refer back to that game. We're new England. Probably 70 per cent of the players are the same but the rest are new to Test rugby. We've got a different philosophy in how we play, a different philosophy in how we train and a different philosophy.

Source: AFP