Manu Tuilagi's England incident partly due to 'mental torture' of his injury hell as George Ford backs him for return

Leicester Tigers head coach Matt O'Connor admits Tuilagi 'made a mistake' but feels his frustration over his spate of injuries was partly to blame for his England misdemeanour

Matt O'Connor feels that part of Manu Tuilagi's England indiscretion was caused by frustration (Getty)

Leicester Tigers centre Manu Tuilagi is suffering from the “mental torture” of his injury hell over the last three years that contributed to him being banished from an England training camp last week, according to his head coach Matt O’Connor.

Tuilagi and Sale Sharks wing Denny Solomona were sent home from England’s three-day training camp last Monday by Eddie Jones after they embarked on a late night out, before turning up for training still under the effects of alcohol.

The incident was the latest in a long line of off-the-field controversies surrounding Tuilagi, who has made one appearance for England in the last three years and has not played for his adopted country since March 2016.

The 26-year-old Tuilagi returned to Leicester training after being dismissed from the England camp, and while O’Connor admitted that the Samoa-born centre “made a mistake”, he did claim that there were mitigating circumstances in the matter given his injury hell over the last 36 months.

“Hopefully he can come out the other side and prove the doubters wrong,” said O'Connor said.

"Manu made a mistake and has learned the lesson from that.”

Australian O’Connor added: "He's not been able to express himself on the field and with that goes a fair bit of mental torture. Manu has got stuff wrong before but he's not the first young man to get stuff wrong.

"Hopefully moving forward he understands that decisions he makes have ramifications, and he can make the right ones.

"He's just wants to play - there's nothing about the game that he doesn't enjoy."

O'Connor is hopeful that Tuilagi can complete an injury-free season (Getty)

Despite the unsavoury incident which occurred in Teddington nine days ago, Tuilagi’s club and country colleague, George Ford, believes the door is still open for the 26-cap centre to stake his claim for a place in the England squad ahead of the autumn internationals in November.

Ford, who has returned to Welford Road this season after four years with Bath in a swap deal with Freddie Burns, talked up Tuilagi’s chances of a return to international rugby and believes the early signs from pre-season training are very positive ahead of his competitive return next month.

To do that when he has not played that much shows what a world-class player he is. I want him outside me, that's for sure

&#13; <p>George Ford</p>&#13;

“I don't think so, no. Obviously, that is up to Eddie and the coaches,” Ford said of Tuilagi’s chances of an England recall.

“I think they've said to Manu to go away and play consistently well for Leicester first, and see where that takes him, but I am sure if he gets a run of games he will definitely put his hand up.

George Ford has returned to Leicester Tigers after four years with Bath (Getty)

“He looks in good shape. He is training consistently now. I couldn't be more impressed with the lines he is running in attack, his communication and what he's doing defensively.

“To do that when he has not played that much shows what a world-class player he is. I want him outside me, that's for sure.”

Tuilagi did not play in Leicester’s pre-season win over the Ospreys last week, but has two more chances to get an outing under his belt before the season begins as the Tigers host Benetton Treviso this Friday before a return match with the Ospreys at Welford Road on 25 August before the Premiership season kicks off with a hotly-anticipated clash with Ford’s former club Bath on Sunday 3 September.