Sunday 19 October 2014 07:33, UK
Manu Tuilagi could be a major doubt for England’s autumn internationals after going off injured during Leicester Tigers’ win over Ulster.
The centre left the field after just 15 minutes of the Tigers’ 25-18 victory in their European Rugby Champions Cup opener at Welford Road, with director of rugby Richard Cockerill confirming that he suffered a recurrence of a groin injury.
Tuilagi sat out three Aviva Premiership games earlier this season due to a similar problem and this latest setback could leave him sidelined again, with the All Blacks set to arrive at Twickenham in just three weeks' time.
"It is a recurrence of his groin (injury)," Cockerill said. "How bad that is I've no idea, but clearly it is not great news is it? It is a bit of a concern for everyone.
"I can't really comment, but you would imagine it is not going to be a one-week (injury)."
Leicester made an early statement in Pool Three by seeing off Ulster with first-half tries from centre Owen Williams, lock Graham Kitchener and fly-half Freddie Burns.
Ulster managed to claim a losing bonus point through Tommy Bowe’s scorching second-half try and a Franco van der Merwe touchdown, but two Williams penalties secured victory for the hosts.
"First half, we were pretty sharp, and second half we probably kicked the ball too much,” said Cockerill. “I thought we could have scored another try in the first half, but we will take the win.
"We had to get off to a good start. I thought it was a cracking game, a good physical contest. It's one game, and it is good to win it. There is a long way to go, so we won't get too excited.
"I thought we controlled field position in the first half, we carried the ball well, we looked good physically and we dominated the lineout.
It is a recurrence of his groin (injury). How bad that is I've no idea, but clearly it is not great news is it? It is a bit of a concern for everyone.
"What is most frustrating was that we had opportunities to kill the game off in the first half, but I have nothing but praise for the players.
"We have a bucket-load of guys missing, and to beat a good Ulster side is pleasing. We have struggled to get past them in the last couple of years.
"I am happy that we've got a good start. Had we lost tonight, it makes it very hard to get out of the pool.
"We need to make sure we win next week (against Scarlets), and we need to beat Toulon here in December, then go to Toulon and give it our best shot."
Ulster head coach Neil Doak was pleased with his side’s second-half performance, but admitted their set-piece struggles proved costly.
He said: "We weren't as accurate as we had hoped in the first half, and Leicester got a bit of a lead, but the second half was pretty decent and we got a couple of scores.
"It is a possession game, and if you don't have the ball, you have to defend quite a bit. They put us under a bit of pressure and capitalised on a couple of our mistakes.
"We talked about the set-piece all week, and if you don't have possession you are going to be under pressure."
