LAST UPDATE | 19 Mar 2024
BAYONNE HAVE ANNOUNCED the signing of England centre Manu Tuilagi from Sale on a two-year contract.
The 32-year-old will join the French club at the end of the season in a move likely to bring an end to his Test career.
Rugby Football Union regulations dictate any player departing the Gallagher Premiership becomes ineligible for international selection.
A short statement on Bayonne’s website read: “England centre Manu Tuilagi has signed for the next two seasons. Welcome Manu!”
Tuilagi won his 60th – and likely final – England cap in Saturday’s 33-31 Guinness Six Nations defeat by France in Lyon.
Earlier on Tuesday, the former Leicester player outlined ambitions of helping Sale lift the Premiership title as he confirmed his decision to leave Alex Sanderson’s side.
“I’ve absolutely loved my time at Sale,” he told the club website. “It was a really tough conversation with Al, and a tough decision for everyone because my family and I have been really happy here.
“I never thought I’d leave Leicester and it was a big move, but since arriving here I’ve grown a lot as a person. I’ve developed as a player, but more so as a person.
“The environment at Sale is amazing. It’s what makes me want to get out of bed and put the work in, and I genuinely love coming in every day.
“If I’ve helped the young players then that’s great, but they’ve helped me so much too and I’m going to miss them all.
“The mindset from the start of the season was to win the Premiership and that’s what we’re all focused on now. Knowing it’s my last season here will give me an extra push to make sure I leave on a high.”
Tuilagi has been an automatic pick in the midfield for four successive England coaches due to the power he provides on both sides of the ball.
However, his career has been heavily interrupted by a number of serious injuries, including groin, chest, hamstring, knee and a broken hand.
Sale currently sit seventh in the Premiership table.
Sharks director of rugby Sanderson said: “We talked about what was best for the club and what was best for Manu and his family, and we had to make a tough decision. But it’s still a wrench and really tough for me to accept that he’s going.
“He is one of the world’s best players and one of the world’s best blokes. There are very few people who can do what he can on the field. As a player he’s every bit as good as I thought he was before I came here, but as a person he continues to surprise and inspire me to be better.
“We’ll miss him massively on the field, but the void he leaves off it will be harder to fill.
“His smile is the same whether he’s running on to the field ready to smash someone, or sitting opposite you having a glass of wine, and I’m really going to miss that.”
Close in on 4th = Are in 6th place which will be 7th place after spurs play their game in hand
@Chief: I’m on my way to being a millionaire after buying a ticket today.
@Chief: close in on 4th= 3 points closer to 4th than 3 hours ago.
Does that mean a couple of more wins and they be closing in on top spot? Daft journslism
@Mel Finn: playing to the gallery.
Peter Wright looking good in darts.
@Paul Gorry: dont know we weren’t watching it? Your in the wrong article again..
@Pauly Kel: Happy new year pauly, it was just a jest.
@Paul Gorry: you too man.
@Paul Gorry: obsessed. Typical scouser.
@Pauly Kel: appreciated Pauly.
@Karl Ó Cléirigh: give over karl my comment was light hearted for a bit of craic.now your comment is looking like you’re obsessed?
@Paul Gorry: I don’t see it that way but hey all you scouse fans are the same.
@Karl Ó Cléirigh: ok karl iam trying to relise ye a good bloke or a bad bloke?But now realise yer a bad bloke. Yer immature comment says it all really.
@Paul Gorry: grow up haha
@Karl Ó Cléirigh: oh the irony karl.
@Paul Gorry: the irony being you (a Liverpool fan) putting a smart comment on a United story and people are calling you out on it and you’re getting defensive?! Very ironic don’t you think?…..
What has Ferguson’s 80th birthday got to do with it?
@PeterC: got to do, got to do with it?
Strange lack of liverpool and Chelsea fans passing comments on man utds performance here tonight after the last couple of nights..
@Pol Mlp: i would have pol but I was watching the darts. More exciting to be fair.
@Paul Gorry: good point…anderson v humphries will be a 180 fest on new years day methinks
@Paul Gorry: Don’t think you can objectively say “more exciting to be fair” if you only watched the darts. That’s a rather silly comment to make in fairness. If you watched both you could make that comparison. What was better on the 28th? Liverpool or the darts?
@Pol Mlp: Liverpool and Chelsea fans only worry about teams at the top end of the table. Not mid table teams like utd.
@David Gaffney: liverpool obviously. Iam fluck ing having a laugh here David. Lighten up.
Really. Here we go they draw with Newcastle and win tonight against teams that more than likely will get relegated. Oh well done Utd
@Marcus Springfield: your correct. They should only report on games that United lose.
@Marcus Springfield: Really? Oh really??
@Brian Dunne: Yeah and especially the games where they get hammered… It makes some sleep well at nite here. So dull when there’s no United bashing to be had in the comments section!
@Brian Dunne: they would run out of ink then ;)
Dillusional. 4th place is Westham Spurs or Arsenal. Utd are done.
@Paul Smith: on the sherry early then…
@Paul Smith: Yeah you wish… The usual garbage… Top 4 is open to a few teams this year and it’ll be interesting regardless of who you support
3pts. Good game from mcsauce. A game of two halves, first exciting, second boring af. Onto the next one. Jack Byrne an assured presence in the studio on the punditry.
@Fred spins kdb: Definitely a better performance than recently + Wan Bissaka looked better tonight…still a lot of work to do but some positives even if the 2nd half was a snooze fest!
Looks like Scotty Mac got some new shooting boots off Santy… 1st half was good, 2nd half not so good.. 3 points and move on hopefully win the game in hand over West Ham and Arsenal.. And hope that Spurs make a mess of theirs
As United fan I wouldn’t make such a statement about them pushing for fourth just one win after a dismal match against Newcastle. If the top is where we want to be then we should constantly be demanding more, not getting ahead of ourselves over short term success.
Liverpool and Chelsea looking wobbly.
Well, considering Utd will be doing well to get 60 points this season, you can understand understand them wanting to celebrate one of their own achieving any sort of 80 this season !!!