the times | Thursday November 25 2021 2GM 75
Sport
Manu Tuilagi faces an anxious wait to
discover whether the hamstring injury
he suffered scoring England’s first try in
their win over South Africa requires
surgery that would rule him out of the
Six Nations.
Alex Sanderson, Tuilagi’s director of
rugby at Sale Sharks, revealed that
surgery would mean up to 12 weeks of
rehabilitation for the 30-year-old.
However, Sanderson is hoping that the
centre’s specialist will rule out an
operation, which would reduce the
recovery time to six to eight weeks.
The injury to Tuilagi is a blow for Ed-
die Jones, the England head coach, but
there was better news from Saracens
about Owen Farrell, who had an ankle
operation on Friday and could be back
in action by the end of January, making
him available for the Six Nations.
Jamie George, the hooker, does not
require an operation on the knee he
injured in the win over Australia and
will be back before Farrell, while Elliot
Daly, who returned from the British &
England’s new
leaders – and a
large absentee
Eddie Jones said that the leadership
group that carried England to the 2019
World Cup final cracked in the Six Nations
this year. To glue his side back together,
the head coach turned to the lock/flanker
Courtney Lawes (1), who captained
England twice in the autumn; the centre
Henry Slade (2); the flanker Tom Curry
(4); and prop Ellis Genge (5). Notable by
his absence was Maro Itoje (3), long
tipped to lead the national side but who
Jones says is too introverted for the role
England’s new
leaders – and a
large absentee
Eddie Jones said that the leadership
group thatcarried England to the 2 019
World Cup final cracked in the Six Nations
this year. To glue his side back together,
the head coach turned to the lock/flanker
Courtney Lawes (1), who captained
England twice in the autumn; the centre
Henry Slade ( 2 ); the flanker Tom Curry
(4); and prop Ellis Genge (5). Notable by
his absence was Maro Itoje ( 3 ), long
tipped to lead the national side but who
Jones says is too introverted for the role
4
5
Romero’s injury is a big blow
to Conte’s plans at SpursTuilagi waits to learn Six Nations fate
Irish Lions tour to South Africa with a
stress fracture, is now fit.
The hamstring problem Tuilagi
suffered on Saturday is the latest
setback in a long list of serious injuries
that have blighted his career. There
were even concerns about Tuilagi’s
fitness before the game, which he
started with heavy strapping. However,
Sanderson insisted that the feedback
from England had been that Tuilagi
had not damaged his hamstring in the
lead-up to the match.
Sanderson, whose Sale team face his
former club Saracens on Sunday, said:
“Poor Manu. He has a grade-three
injury [the most severe] and we are
going to speak to the specialist and he
will tell us if we need an operation. We
hope that it won’t go to that and if it
does then it’s months [to recover], but if
not then it will be six to eight weeks.
“There are discussions between our
physio and England’s and the scans
showed a grade-zero hamstring tear
[while he was with England] and we
have been shown evidence of that.
They wouldn’t have pushed him ifanything had shown up. You would love
to blame someone and say, ‘It’s your
fault,’ but Manu is injury prone.
“Of course I am frustrated but you
cannot say it’s England’s fault because
all the medical advice suggests it’s a
one-off. It is not a defining injury for
him and he will have time off now then
have seven or eight weeks [back play-
ing] towards the end of the season, and
then international duty. It shouldn’t af-
fect the back end of the season, which
will be big for him, us and England.”
Saracens will take on a powerful
Cell C Sharks team featuring key South
Africa players headed by the captain,
Siya Kolisi, in a friendly at StoneX Sta-
dium on January 15.
The Sharks play Benetton in the
United Rugby Championship a week
before in Italy and will then travel to
London with a squad that will include
the Springboks Ox Nche, Thomas du
Toit, Bongi Mbonambi, Lukhanyo Am,
Makazole Mapimpi, Aphelele Fassi and
Sbu Nkosi.
Saracens have a Gallagher Premier-
ship bye round that weekend.Chris Jones
Antonio Conte fears that Cristian
Romero could be out for a lengthy
period with a hamstring injury.
The Tottenham Hotspur centre back
is waiting to have a second scan after
suffering the injury while playing for
Argentina against Brazil in a World
Cup qualifier last week. Romero, 23,
started the first two matches under
Conte, the new head coach, who
regarded him as an important figure in
his back-three system.
Conte said that it was too early to
decide whether the injury would affect
the club’s plans in the January transfer
window, although it is thought that he
was keen to sign a central defender
even before Romero’s issue.
“His injury is serious and we have
to wait, I don’t know the time he
needs for recovery,” Conte said.
“We have many games and I
want to make my evaluations
about the squad and players.”
Romero has made 13
appearances this season
after he joined from Atalan-
ta on loan in the summer,
in a deal that will becomeConte fears the worst
over Romero injury
Gary Jacob permanent for about £42 million at the
end of the campaign.
Conte has taken a full-strength squad
to Slovenia to face NS Mura in the
Europa Conference League group G
tonight, with Spurs in second place with
two games remaining. Conte said that
Ryan Sessegnon would start, and the
21-year-old could be one of the biggest
beneficiaries of Conte’s arrival, as the
Italian likes to use attacking wing backs.
Sessegnon stood out in that position
when he emerged at Fulham. He joined
Spurs for £25 million in 2019 but his
career stalled because of thigh and
hamstring injuries, the latest of which
sidelined him for two months this
season. He spent last term on loan
with Hoffenheim in Germany. “It’s
a massive chance to kick-start my
career, which has been very
stop-start,” he said.
Sessegnon also revealed
that he had sought help
during his injury troubles.
“Of course it has been
very tough,” he said. “I
did get a bit of help one-
on-one from someone,
which was very good for
me, on the psychology
side of things. But that is
behind me now.”
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TV Live on BPérez: Leicester
lack resilience
Ian WinrowAyoze Pérez admits that Leicester City
are lacking the resilience of recent
seasons and must improve their men-
tality if they are to revive their faltering
campaign.
Brendan Rodgers’s side go into this
evening’s Europa League game at home
to Legia Warsaw without a win in four
games and on the back of a painful
home defeat by Chelsea on Saturday
that drew an angry reaction from some
Leicester supporters.
Rodgers, the manager, criticised the
fans who chose to boo his side during the
3-0 loss, but Pérez, the forward, who
insisted that the players had been
unaffected by reports linking Rodgers to
the vacancy at Manchester United, ac-
knowledged that there were grounds for
improvement. “It’s not the talent or the
quality, it’s more about the mentality
and resilience,” he said. “And that’s what
we are missing at the minute.”
TV Live on BT Sport 2, kick-off 8pmRFU revenues down £70m
John WesterbyThe RFU believes it will take several
years to recover from the impact of the
Covid pandemic, with the governing
body’s annual report detailing an
underlying loss of £21.3 million.
Revenues dropped by £70 million
from the previous year. The conse-
quences to the sport are clear, with a
£26 million reduction in spending on
the professional game and an £11 mil-
lion cut in investment on development
projects.
The absence of crowds from England
matches was particularly costly. In the
previous 12 months, £25.5 million had
been generated by ticket sales at
Twickenham, but this time that figure
was only £100,000.
“We are in a strong financial position,however it will take a number of years
to recover from underlying losses,” Sue
Day, the chief operating officer, said.
“We have less money to invest than in
recent years and that means we must
spend money wisely.”
The losses incurred were offset by a
scheme in which the RFU asked deben-
ture holders to sell their seats back at
present prices, making a profit from the
price at which they were bought, and to
donate the proceeds to the Rugby Foot-
ball Foundation, which offers grants to
clubs. More than 5,000 debentures
were donated, allowing the RFU to take
advantage of £1.7 million in gift aid to
invest in grassroots rugby.
“This 150th year of the RFU has been
an immensely challenging one for the
union and our sport,” Bill Sweeney, the
chief executive, said.Moyes: Let’s
finish the job
Tom RoddyDavid Moyes has challenged West
Ham United to secure their place as a
top-seeded team in the Europa League
round of 16 with victory in Vienna.
West Ham face Rapid Vienna tonight
in the penultimate game of group H
having all but progressed to the knock-
out stage. If Moyes’s side finish top they
will not have to compete in Uefa’s new
play-off round, which will involve eight
Europa League teams and the eight
third-placed teams from this season’s
Champions League group stage.
“I’d like to get the job done,” Moyes
said. “We’re in a qualification position,
it’s just whether we can top it now.”
Michail Antonio and Lukasz Fabian-
ski have not travelled for tonight’s game
— being played behind closed doors
because of a national lockdown over
rising Covid-19 cases — as Moyes rests
his star men for Sunday’s Premier
League meeting with Manchester City.
TV BT Sport 1, 5.45pm kick-off