England forwards coach said: "It's not too serious as far as we know and hopefully, he'll be back soon. Manu is in pretty good spirits. Unfortunately, this is part of professional sport."; England host Wales at Twickenham on Saturday with a 4.45pm kick-off
Friday 25 February 2022 15:18, UK
Manu Tuilagi's hamstring strain isn't believed to be too serious, according to England forwards coach Richard Cockerill.
Speaking on Friday ahead of England's Six Nations Test against Wales, Cockerill said that the team are confident Tuilagi will return to action soon. The forwards coach added that the 30-year-old was still in good spirits.
Tuilagi was initially named in England's starting line-up for their meeting with Wales, before Eddie Jones and his team of coaches had to scrap their original plans when Tuilagi suffered a hamstring strain later in the day on Thursday.
The strain is to the same hamstring that was torn against South Africa in the autumn. With the man who Jones described as England's "gainline accumulator" ruled out, Joe Marchant has been recalled to the squad and England are still to confirm their team for the fixture.
Currently, Tuilagi has not been ruled out of England's final two rounds of the Six Nations against Ireland on March 12 and France on March 19. However, fans will have concerns about them given his injury history.
The centre's England career has been chequered by ailments, with him missing 79 possible matches since debuting in 2011, including 50 of the 71 played since Jones took charge in 2015.
"Manu had a slight hamstring strain at training on Thursday, so he's left camp and is at home," Cockerill, England's forwards coach said.
"It's not too serious as far as we know and hopefully, he'll be back soon. Manu is in pretty good spirits. Unfortunately, this is part of professional sport.
"Manu has still got a smile on his face and is optimistic that he'll be back playing for club and country pretty soon," Cockerill added.
"On that front it's pretty positive but obviously we're disappointed for him personally, and it's disappointing for the team as he'd have been an important part of the squad."
Wales' vice-captain Adam Beard wants his side to remain focused, even if Tuilagi will not be threatening them in midfield.
Beard added: "He is a quality player and he has probably been unlucky with a few injuries. But in terms of our preparation, it doesn't really change. Whoever comes in to replace him will be a quality replacement, so we know there are going to be threats along the back-line.
"We know it is definitely going to take an 80-minute performance to get the win over a tough side like England. To get one up against England is definitely on the bucket list for any player."
Wales captain Dan Biggar, meanwhile, readily acknowledges England's strengths up-front.
"England's driving maul and set-piece traditionally is always very strong," Biggar said. "Whoever you play against, you want to limit their strengths, so if we can keep the number of driving mauls and set-pieces they have to a minimum, then it gives us a good chance of taking a particular strength away from England.
"We want to try and keep the ball in play quite high and back ourselves that way, as opposed to giving England a lot of set-pieces and allowing them to get one of their strengths going."
