England coach Mike Catt has said that Manu Tuilagi will have to "up the intensity" if he is to be selected to face Ireland.
Tuilagi missed last weekend's game against Scotland due to injury but is now in contention to play in Dublin on Sunday.
Catt however has called on Tuilagi and other players trying to break into the starting side to up their efforts in training in order to impress.
"It is always difficult but it is a great headache to have," said Catt.
"From a team point of view you have three guys and each of them bring special attributes. It is great Billy has come along and performed the way he did against Scotland on his debut.
"Manu has been out of the game for three or four weeks. We will see how they all train and we will go accordingly from there.
"If the guys have performed exceptionally well on the weekend, the guys coming in need to make sure they have the tempo and up the intensity to really put their hands forward. That is what we want on Tuesday."
Catt meanwhile has admitted that England are working on how to contain Ireland talisman Brian O'Driscoll, describing the Irish first-half performance against Wales as "exceptional."
"It would be very hard (taking him out of the equation)," added Catt.
"O'Driscoll is playing exceptionally well at the moment. I thought that first half Ireland produced (against Wales) was exceptional. We know they are capable of doing that.
"Defence is across the board. Everybody knows their roles.
"We need to focus on our attacking game too, which went pretty well against the Scots, and try and starve them of the ball so they can't do what they are good at.
"It is a little game of chess we have to try and win."
Comments
nabberuk says...
eh, talk about a sensationalist article heading!!
Just read what he said on another website, he said any players coming back in will have to be up to the intensity of the players who played last week.
Nowhere did he say "i've told Manu to train harder"
Posted 17:31 06th February 2013
APV1 says...
@ ArmchairGeneral - and if memory serves, the last time the "Orcs" things was rolled out regularly, we won the RWC. Carry on, I say!
Posted 15:10 06th February 2013
JamieTheProp says...
I quite like being a white orc - been called worse in most scrums on most Saturdays for the last 25 years!
Posted 11:12 06th February 2013
IronManI441 says...
I agree that Manu needs guidance rather than the switch. He is young and already prone to silly acts (see diving in NZ). However as far as I can tell under SL he has been nothing but effective for England. So I think this is really a non-story.
As far as bringing him in, England should start with 12trees and BB. They are in form, in shape and fresh of hammering Scotland. Let the game determine when Manu is brought in for BB. If we are strolling it, then bring him in for 35 min, or if Ireland look tired and Manu could smash through the weak Irish 12 (D'arcy or Earls or whoever), However starting him after 4 weeks out against an in-form BOD who has a point to prove (give me back the captaincy and the Lions spot) could be very dangerous.
As far as the White Orcs comment. Say that to Haskell's face, I'm sure he wouldn't mind going all Uruk-Hai on you.
Posted 10:06 06th February 2013
rugby_rockstar says...
Hey, we must be doing something right, the kiwis have stopped ignoring us and started to bad mouth us instead. Badge of honour boys, we're on the right track! They're sitting up and taking notice! :)
Posted 09:37 06th February 2013
rugby_rockstar says...
Lancaster is such an astute man manager. I don't know about anyone else but I was not happy with Manu's effort in round 5 of the eurocup vs the Ospreys. Sloppy high tackles and very few runs. SL impresses me more and more. Thing is that a "switched on" Manu paired with Billy Twelvetrees would give us the sort of teeth we haven't seen since the glory years.
Forgive the genralisation but Manu appears to be your typical laid back soft spoken Islander and probably a really nice guy off the pitch, you don't want to use the stick on Tuilagi because too much stick just makes the player isolate himself and you lose him completely, but a quiet word to reinforce to him that these are the years he'll be refecting on for the rest of his life - so making sure he dosn't have any regrets isn't a bad thing.
Look at the wasted talents of players like Matheiw Bastareu and Rupieni Caucauibuca. Manu needs positive reinforcement. Here endeth the half assed lesson in pigeon sports psychology. :)
Posted 09:35 06th February 2013
carpelone says...
If Tuilagi increases the intensity, he could destroy a couple of Poms.
Posted 00:27 06th February 2013
felly says...
tellitlikeitis totally.....didn't do exactly that......
Posted 22:37 05th February 2013
fatal6ert says...
@tellitlikeitis - ought to be @talkalotoshite
Posted 21:05 05th February 2013
heart_of_oak says...
Based on the report here, I don't see where Catt says that only Tuilagi needs to up the intensity of his training. PR, you're making something out of this that isn't there. If I read this correctly, Catt's comments are directed at anyone coming into the team.
Oh and tellitlikeitis, you don't seem like someone ready to listen to any Englishman so I won't try to tell you how to post. But I would suggest you read some of the posts of your compatriot Connaughtabu. He obviously loves Ireland and wants them to win everything which is understandable. But the way he posts, we all end up taking him seriously.
Posted 20:03 05th February 2013
LondonWasp says...
@tellitlikeitis
sorry, what....?
Posted 19:10 05th February 2013
alanatleeds says...
@tellit
On a lighter note I hope for a really good game of rugby that maintains the standards that we saw last weekend.
Posted 19:08 05th February 2013
NHsaints says...
@tellitlikeitis excuse me? Not really living up to your username there I see...
Posted 19:00 05th February 2013
NHsaints says...
@tellitlikeitis excuse me? Not really living up to your username there I see...
Posted 19:00 05th February 2013
ArmchairGeneral says...
Asking Manu to up the intensity may not be too wise. But Catt is not saying up the filth @tellitlikeitisnt. That's dumb and entirely not like Catt. Hamilton was trying to get some handbags on Saturday but the England boys were too focused. That old white orcs thing is a hell of a compliment to England's fitness, relentless drive and intensity as well as a reflection of your not knowing the players. It's a good sign when these slurs start coming!
Posted 18:51 05th February 2013
tellitlikeitis says...
in other words, expect plenty of filth from the rubbish white orcs as they try to get their crap team to win this weekend.
Posted 17:05 05th February 2013