If Manu Tuilagi needs a bodyguard on a night out he just has to ask, says Billy Vunipola

Manu Tuilagi deserves to be cut some slack, according to his England pal Billy Vunipola, who is backing the errant Leicester centre to overcome his personal difficulties and injury to become a force to be reckoned with in a Red Rose jersey again.
Tuilagi, whose ongoing groin issues mean he has not featured for Tigers since October, saw his World Cup hopes extinguished last month when he was convicted of assaulting two female police officers and a taxi driver following a late night fracas in Leicester.
Boss Stuart Lancaster wasted no time ejecting him from England’s World Cup training squad, but Vunipola is tipping Tuilagi to bounce back in style.
The Saracens No.8 told The Rugby Paper: “Manu and I are from similar backgrounds so I’ll support whatever he does as a friend. People say he should never play for England again, but he’s been out for virtually a whole year and all he wants to do is play rugby.
“A lot of people are giving him a hard time, but they need to cut him some slack. I don’t drink, but my brother Mako does and I’ve had to look after him and keep him out of trouble at times, so we’re lucky to have each other because it could have been us.
“With Manu, though, there’s probably been a bit of frustration with him being injured for so long and it just boils over a bit. He’s seeing people like Jonathan Joseph come into the England team and get all the plaudits and there’s nothing he can do.
“But look, what’s happened has happened, I’m sure he regrets it, but we know he’s a world-class player who Stuart was desperate to have in his squad. Stuart had to do the right thing and I know it’s a tough time for Manu, but he’ll come back firing.
“I dropped him a text after it all unravelled and he’s all right now, but if he ever needs a little bodyguard to look after him on a night out, he only has to ask. He’s just got to get his injury right and do his thing, and then everything will blow over.”
Vunipola overcome personal issues of his own before a storming second half of the season saw him re-establish himself as England first-choice No.8 and help Saracens secure their first Premiership title since 2011 with last week’s victory over Bath.
After claiming his first piece of club silverware following last year’s twin cup final heartache, Vunipola credits his mother Singa, explaining: “I can’t say enough about her influence. She’s a very strong lady, what she says goes and she anchors the family.
“I got a lot of criticism during the November internationals and a lot of it was right. I’d taken my place for granted a bit and hadn’t worked hard enough, but my mum got into me, restored my faith and that served me well during those tough times.
“I came through stronger and without her help I don’t think I’d have had a Premiership medal around my neck. It’s very special for the family, especially after last year when we lost two finals and Mako missed the Premiership final through injury.
“Mum kept us all in check and I’ve played consistently well week-in, week-out since November. I’ve been working hard on my fitness by doing all the extras and now I feel I’ve got more to come and a lot of things to work towards with England.”
England boss Lancaster has challenged his players to be 10 per cent fitter going into the World Cup – a prospect the outsized Vunipola finds daunting.
But he intends rising to the challenge, saying: “After what Lanny said about conditioning and being 10 per cent fitter, I’m kind of dreading it. But if I can get fitter I’ll become an even better player and I’ve been pleased with my output this season.
“Graham Rowntree sent me a cryptic message saying I’ll have a lot of work to get through during the summer, which sounded a bit ominous, but my fitness has been good at the back end of the season and what we do in England’s training camp in Denver will help me even more.”
Vunipola revealed recent remarks by Northampton boss Jim Mallinder helped fire him and his brother up, too, adding: “Jim’s comments about me and Mako’s ‘bellies touching the ground and making us impossible to shift’ made us chuckle.
“I know he was disappointed after we beat them, but we appreciated the love and hopefully it will give us that little extra push to make the England team. It made us pretty determined going into last week’s final and I think you saw our answer there.”
Vunipola faces huge competition from Nick Easter and Ben Morgan, who is on the verge of returning to full fitness after breaking his leg. But it is a challenge he will relish as he looks to cement his position in England’s 31-man World Cup squad.
He said: “I’m so excited about the World Cup and if I can stay injury free, I’ll give it a good crack. I’m definitely aware of that challenge from Nick and Ben and my place is something I took for granted before, but I know that we’re fighting for one place.
“I’m going to push myself as hard as possible because I want to be the player Lanny chooses. I want to control the things I can control and take the decision out of their hands.”
Of Easter’s hard-nosed challenge, Vunipola adds: “He is an experienced player but he’s very good to be around and shares a lot of his knowledge, which is something I really appreciate. We’re competing for the same shirt but he’ll still give me a few pointers.
“He’s actually a pretty funny guy as well and I have a lot of respect for him and Ben. I know we’re fighting each other but that can only be good for the team.”
Having helped Saracens achieve a clean sweep of domestic honours, with the LV= Cup and A-League to boot, Vunipola wants his side to establish a ‘Barcelona-like’ dynasty where silverware flows into the Allianz Park trophy cabinet with regularity.
“You see teams like Barcelona and they win big trophies year after year,” he says. “You’ve got to come through the hard times to appreciate the good and losing the Heineken and Premiership finals last year was tough to take. But this season we’ve been on the winning side and the thing now is to be more consistent and win trophies every year.”
While recent incidents involving Tuilagi and Danny Cipriani have highlighted the dangers top players face when out socialising, Vunipola believes Saracens old-school rugby values of having a beer together will continue to stand them in good stead.
He may be teetotal himself, but Vuniploa added: “At Saracens we push each other quite hard because we don’t want to fail, so the whole reason behind our trips away is to get closer and if you have a few drinks together everyone opens up and it’s good.
“It’s a bit old-school, but that’s rugby and when we went to Marbella a few weeks ago it was one of the best four days of my life. I’m glad we won the Premiership because we’ve got a really good bunch of rugby boys who proved what we do works.
“We’ve got good structures and a lot of young kids want to join us now. They’ve heard about how players are treated and we’re reaping the rewards.”
NEALE HARVEY