Manu Tuilagi: England centre says extra sleep can help him stay fit

England centre Manu Tuilagi believes a change in his sleeping pattern can help him stay injury-free and on course for the 2023 Rugby World Cup.

The midfield powerhouse has struggled to remain on the pitch throughout his career and has spent plenty of the current campaign on the sidelines.

He returned to the Red Rose squad in November but injured his hamstring when scoring a try in the victory over South Africa.

Tuilagi then received another setback as he was forced to pull out of the Wales clash in the Six Nations.

Scored in Champions Cup quarter-final

The 30-year-old has since recovered and scored a try in Sale Sharks’ Champions Cup quarter-final defeat to Racing 92 on Sunday.

With Sale likely out of the Premiership play-off picture, there are two matches remaining before England’s tour to Australia and Tuilagi hopes his regime pays off.

“I think sleep is a big thing for me. I never used to sleep. I used to sleep really late. For an athlete you need, for me, at least seven hours,” he told reporters.

“That’s what I looked at when the latest hamstring injury happened.

“I had a chat with my wife. I was talking to her, saying to her about how I woke up 20-30 minutes before we had the walk-throughs and then you get into training.

“And my wife is saying, you’re an athlete, you’ve got to sleep,” he added.

Sale director of rugby Alex Sanderson has been open in stating that the coaches are managing Tuilagi’s workload.

Although that rarely sits well with the individual, the centre admits that he understands why they may look to limit his training and playing.

“As a person you have to listen to your body but as an athlete sometimes you get too excited and you just want to be out there on the field,” Tuilagi said.

“And you ignore what your body is telling you.

“I just want to keep playing. That’s what I want to do, is play week-in, week-out.”

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