Tuilagi – ‘Europe a big culture shock’

England centre Manu Tuilagi believes that Pacific Islands players need greater support in adjusting to life in England.

There are more than 80 players of Pacific Islands heritage in the Premiership and almost 600 across Europe.

Tuilagi received a major scare in June 2010 when he was almost deported from the United Kingdom after it emerged that he had entered the country on a holiday visa six years earlier and had stayed on illegally.

However, Leicester and the Rugby Football Union successfully led a campaign which prevented his deportation.

Since then a group has been launched called the Pacific Rugby Players Welfare (PRPW) which helps players from the region with the laborious paperwork that visas entail as well providing them with psychological support.

Former Samoa, Wasps and London Irish lock Dan Leo is the founder of the group and Tuilagi and Leicester’s Matt Toomua are part of the 14-man strong players’ board.

And Tuilagi believes it is a wonderful initiative.

“The situation with the visa caught us all out,” Tuilagi told Press Association Sport.

“I really didn’t know anything about it at the time.

“Growing up in Samoa we would never have had to deal with paperwork like that, so these are the kinds of problems and issues players can face.

“Things like that could be avoided hopefully, with the extra level of support and guidance that PRPW is aiming to provide.

“Here you’ve got to work and earn your living. Back in Samoa you can live off the land, you don’t pay tax, you own your own house and land. So those are the things you just don’t know anything about when you arrive here.

“It was a big culture shock coming to England, coping with the lifestyle changes, the little things day by day.

Tuilagi is the youngest of seven brothers, five of whom have represented Leicester and Samoa but he is the only one to have played for England as well as the British and Irish Lions.

And the 25-year-old is grateful for the fact that his brothers were already in England when he arrived

“I was lucky because my brothers were here already when I came to England,” he added.

“But even then I still found it hard to adjust. So it’s massive for me to see Dan [Leo] visiting all the clubs and giving talks, explaining the issues we feel Pacific Islanders are facing.

“Just talking about our culture, and maybe cultural differences that clubs, coaches or other players might not necessarily have known about.

“We can be naturally quiet people. That can sometimes be interpreted that we’re not interested or we don’t care.

“That’s definitely not the case. Often that quietness is our way of showing respect. So if we educate each other on our cultures it could be a huge help. But we can’t just rely on being spoon fed, we’ve got to look at ourselves first and help ourselves, and move forward.”