Tuilagi set for payday in Japan

Manu Tuilagi is edging towards a move to the Far East to play in the Japan Rugby League after the World Cup next year.

Tuilagi will be 32 next May and has been linked with a switch to France where websites claimed three teams were ready to make a contract offer.

In 2019 Racing Metro did offer him a £2.5million deal before he opted to stay with Leicester rather than end his England career.

A source has told The Rugby Paper that these website stories are not true and that the powerful centre is set to head to Japan, where teams play 16 games a season.

Wanted: Manu Tuilagi

Tuilagi joined Sale in 2020 after 11 years at Leicester, where he won the Premiership twice and also played for England in the 2019 World Cup final.

He has won 46 Test caps for England, the last coming against South Africa last November after he was ruled out of the summer of Australia following “routine” knee surgery.

Tuilagi, the youngest of six brothers, won one cap for the Lions in 2013 and made 11 appearances for the Sharks last season, scoring two tries.

He was again linked with Racing 92 and Toulon before extending his contract with the Sharks in April 2021 until the World Cup being held in France.

But the indications are that he will head to Japan, where the schedule isn’t as heavy as it is in Europe, for one last big payday until he retires, giving his body a well-deserved rest.