Sunday 25 November 2018 09:48, UK
Manu Tuilagi felt like he was making his England debut again when he ran onto the pitch during Saturday's win over Australia.
The Leicester centre came on as a 69th-minute replacement during their 37-18 victory over the Wallabies at Twickenham, 30 months after winning his last cap.
Having been dogged by injury problems during that period, Tuilagi was relieved to finally win his 27th England cap as Eddie Jones' side signed off for 2018 with a win.
"I'm very happy just to get through the game," he told Sky Sports News.
"To come on for the last 10 minutes was very exciting, especially the crowd - there was a big roar when me and Alec [Hepburn] came on.
"Just to be back playing, it felt like it was my first cap again. I enjoyed it, especially with our performance. We'll take that forward."
Tuilagi made a trademark carry in midfield one minute after his introduction, racing onto Ben Te'o pass and beating two defenders. It was a scenario he could only dream about when his injury problems showed no signs of ending.
"You have got to try and be positive, even with me getting injured quite a lot," he said. "I've definitely missed it, I had forgotten what it's like. It was an amazing atmosphere."
He added: "You get some dark moments. The body is amazing but your mind has got to be positive - then your body will follow.
"It has been a tough time but that's life. Things happen, you've just got to stick with it."
England scored four tries to clinch a sixth successive win over the Wallabies and third victory from four games this autumn.
