Manu Tuiliagi's week has gone from good to bad in record time, after he suffered a knee injury just a few minutes in to Leicester's game against Saracens.
The centre was given an England call up for the first time in nine months from Eddie Jones on Saturday, and with the coach in the stands watching on, he had to be helped off the field with less than ten minutes on the clock.
He was involved in an awkward tackle with Scotland's Sean Maitland and went down clutching his knee, which ruled him out of traveling with England to their two-day training camp in Brighton on Sunday evening.
Jones had named Tuilagi in his 33-man squad for the camp after he fought his way back from a recurring groin injury, but this latest knock is another setback for the centre.
A short statement read: "Manu Tuilagi will not attend England’s training camp in Brighton because of an injury sustained during Leicester Tigers’ defeat to Saracens. Semesa Rokoduguni has been called in to join up with the 33-man squad."
Speaking after the game, Leicester’s director of rugby, Richard Cockerill said that a full assessment of the injury would be carried out on Monday when the swelling in the area had reduced, but was unable to give any timeframe for the recovery.
Noting that there was no connection between this knock and his groin injury, Cockerill said: "It’s disappointing because he is important to us. Normally it’s 24 hours so we will see how it has settled down in the morning to see if there’s any swelling.
"It might just be a bang and a bit of swelling, it might be a couple of weeks. I’m just guessing."
Via The Guardian
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