Six Nations: Manu Tuilagi set to press for England return at Leicester vs Harlequins as Eddie Jones watches on

Injury-hit Leicester man fit to face Quins and can impress Jones tonight

Manu Tuilagi will be playing at centre for Leicester against Harlequins (Getty Images)

Manu Tuilagi may be English rugby’s version of the yeti – often talked of, seldom seen – but the red-rose head coach Eddie Jones is virtually guaranteed a sighting of the species this evening when Leicester meet Harlequins in the Premiership at the Twickenham Stoop. As the human bowling ball has been named at inside centre, rather than in his more familiar No 13 role, Jones will be on high alert.

More than once since arriving in this country as the first overseas boss of the national team, the Australian has spoken of the Samoan-born Midlander as a potential solution to the most convoluted and intractable of England’s selection problems: the midfield axis. Jones appears to see him as a local version of the double World Cup-winning New Zealand centre Ma’a Nonu, and while Tuilagi has yet to demonstrate a mastery of any skill more sophisticated than running in a straight line and smithereening opponents to all points of the compass, it may be that he has the capacity to learn a new trick or two. After all, the multi-faceted Nonu was himself a one-trick pony back in the day.

Tuilagi missed last year’s World Cup with a deep-seated groin injury that took 15 months to clear up. Three games into his comeback, he twanged a hamstring and was forced into another spell on the sidelines. Under the circumstances, the Leicester rugby director, Richard Cockerill, was perfectly entitled to wonder whether Jones’ plan to restore him to the England squad before the end of the Six Nations in mid-March might be a little on the optimistic side.

But while Cockerill was suggesting that Tuilagi needed at least a short run of club games before being considered for England duty, the red-rose coach could be heard talking of a possible call-up ahead of the eagerly-awaited match with Wales at Twickenham three weeks tomorrow.

Jones may have been more than happy with Owen Farrell’s recent performances at inside centre against Scotland and Italy and he may have revelled in the sight of Jonathan Joseph putting a hat-trick of tries past the Azzurri from the outside position in Rome, but he is equally keen on the spherical Leicester man’s uniquely destructive qualities. Should Tuilagi succeed in making a mess of the Quins defence tonight, he will be on the fast track to an international recall.

There will be more than one reason for Jones to stay awake this evening: Marland Yarde, one of the “fringe” wings in the Six Nations squad, will be on duty for Quins and looking to deliver an eye-catching performance, while the uncapped lock Ed Slater will lead Leicester after recovering from the latest of a catalogue of injuries that have undermined his challenge for Test recognition.

In addition, a good deal of attention will be focused on J P Doyle’s contribution to the evening’s entertainment. The Dublin-born international referee, who moved to London in 2003 and has been officiating under the English flag since 2010, found himself in the middle of a full-scale row after last weekend’s game between Worcester and Bath at Sixways, during which he declined to award what would have been a match-winning penalty to the home side at the death.

That row is still continuing, with the Worcester rugby director, Dean Ryan, alleging that his team are getting a bum rap from referees – an accusation he says is borne out by Rugby Football Union statistics. Ryan said yesterday that he was “dumbfounded” at news that officials had yet to be addressed on the issue by the governing body.

“We totally understand the pressures on referees and this isn’t to put the spotlight on that one decision,” he said. “This is us looking at what we believe has been a two-year trend. We’re just asking for an equitable chance to compete in games. The statistics suggest we haven’t had that.”

Meanwhile, another obvious England midfield candidate, the Exeter playmaker Henry Slade, is on course to start a competitive comeback before the end of the season. Woefully underused at last year’s World Cup, Slade suffered a broken leg and ankle dislocation while on club duty at Wasps in December and initially seemed likely to miss the remainder of the campaign. The prognosis is now a little better than that, with the West Countryman targeting late April as a possible return date.

Across the water in Ireland, the centre Jared Payne has committed himself to a two-year contract extension at Ulster. The 30-year-old New Zealander from Tauranga, who made his green-shirted debut in late 2014 and has a dozen caps in the bag, was described by the provincial boss Les Kiss as an “incredibly astute and intelligent rugby player who adds experience and a sense of calm to any back division”.