Tuilagi will ‘thrive’ this season – Youngs

England scrum-half Ben Youngs insists his troubled team-mate Manu Tuilagi will “thrive” this season despite his latest disciplinary issues.

Following an alleged boozy night on the town earlier this month, Tuilagi was sent home from an England camp by head coach Eddie Jones.

“It is frustrating, but I know Manu is surrounded by the right people now,” Youngs said in an interview for BBC’s Rugby Union Weekly Podcast.

“He has got himself where he needs to be. He’s back fit and he just wants to play.

“I have no doubt that this year, if he stays fit, all his talking will be done on the rugby field. I’m absolutely confident he will thrive this year.”

Tuilagi has also been unlucky with injuries and has not started for England since the summer of 2014.

Leicester head coach Matt O’Connor says the “mental torture” of injury played a role in Tuilagi’s disciplinary problems, which includes assaulting two female police officers in 2015.

“As a mate and a team-mate and a supporter and a rugby fan, I just want to see him fulfil his potential,” Youngs said.

“We all know that on his day he is an incredible player, some would say the world’s best centre on his day.

“I don’t want to speak for him, but I will always support my team-mates. He has had two and a half years of watching everyone else play well.

“So demons in your head start playing. You have two and a half years of that and you become this myth as such, and that becomes very frustrating.

“Unfortunately, his frustration has come out in other avenues that are not so smart.”