The five following English players are on Warren Gatland’s 35-player British & Irish Lions tour standby list, the Telegraph has confirmed.
All will now be told to keep themselves ready for when injuries strike on the notoriously brutal tour to South Africa.
The report adds that any player who receives a call-up will be required to submit a test before flying to South Africa and will then be subject to further testing and a short period of quarantine before being allowed to join up with the squad.
1. Manu Tuilagi
- Age: 29
- Position: Centre
- Club: Sale Sharks
When he’s fit, England are a different team. But he’s not fit, at least not yet. It’s been reported in the Telegraph today that Tuilagi did recieve a letter and there is every chance that he could end up in South Africa during the tour at some point.
Last week Lions attack coach Gregor Townsend deliberately left the door open for Tuilagi to come in as a wild-card selection. “If he shows what he is capable of and gets a lot of gametime, then we know that he’s on that stand-by list and he could be an option,”
Did you know? He was named Manusamoa, after the name of the Samoan national team, Manu Samoa, because his brother Freddie was selected for Samoa at the World Cup in 1991, the year Manu was born