Rugby World Cup 2019: Manu Tuilagi – From idolising Jonah Lomu to beating the All Blacks and going full circle

Manu Tuilagi spent his childhood watching the All Blacks, dreaming of one day becoming the next Jonah Lomu. On Saturday, he will attempt to be the executor of their downfall.

The Samoa-born centre was not the first nor the last to dream of emulating the late great New Zealand wing, having seen Tonga-born Lomu tread the same path that he would later follow in leaving the Pacific Islands for the riches of a tier one nation.

Yet in what he admits will be the biggest match not just of his own career but of each and every one of his teammates, Tuilagi will attempt to do what 18 teams have tried and failed to do – and beat the All Blacks.

“You always watch the All Blacks back in Samoa,” said Tuilagi, who is set to return to outside centre this Saturday with George Ford coming back into the side. “It was Super 12 back in the day. We watched all the All Blacks players in that tournament. It is exciting now to be playing against them.

“Big Jonah, I was a massive fan. Just the way he played, no-one plays like him. He was a big legend of the game. You try [to be him] but you don’t succeed.”

For Tuilagi, Saturday’s Rugby World Cup semi-final could come full circle. Incredibly it was a nearly seven years ago that Tuilagi was part of the last England side the defeat New Zealand. Twice they have come close, losing by a solitary point on the summer tour of 2014 and again last November, but it has been six games on the trot that the All Blacks have ran out winners.

It would be a fair assessment to say that Tuilagi has not reached the highs of that Twickenham afternoon seven years ago since due to a culmination of injury and ill-discipline, but there are clear signs that the best times may be in front of the Leicester back. He will make his 10th start for England in 2019 – and his 12th appearance in total – and has already bagged himself two tries and a man-of-the-match award in the victory over Tonga at this tournament, but the real challenge comes in trying to be a part of the first side to beat New Zealand at a World Cup since 2007.

However, Tuilagi is one of just eight players within this England squad who knows what it feels like to beat the All Blacks while wearing the red rose, and he is fully aware that what happened under Stuart Lancaster’s watch will have little-to-no bearing on what plays out in Yokohama this weekend.

“Everyone just did their job, not do anything amazing,” he recalled. “It was all about each player, one to 23, doing their job as well as they can and that is exactly what we need to do this weekend, just focus on your own job and do it the best you can. Then the performance will take care of itself.

“It was a good day and a good win, but it’s not about that day now – it’s all about Saturday. You take the learnings from the game and hopefully put them into this game at the weekend.”

As has been well documented, Tuilagi was firmly of the opinion that this day would not come for him. His appearance against New Zealand in June 2014 – which came out on the wing – was to be his last England start for four years and eight months, and there was a time when not only did it feel like Tuilagi’s time with England had ended, but England’s time with Tuilagi had wound up too.

“That’s why, for me, you’ve got to enjoy every moment,” he added. “This is the big moment. Sometimes you forget, with everything that’s going on, but when you really think about it, this is the dream come true and you’ve got to enjoy every moment of it. If you enjoy it; that will allow you to do your job.”

For Tuilagi, his job this weekend could not be any clearer.