Manu Tuilagi's hamstring injury not thought to be serious despite missing England training camp

The centre was withdrawn from England's three-day camp in Bristol along with Ben Youngs while Billy Vunipola and Joe Launchbury also suffered knocks at the weekend

The confusion over Manu Tuilagi’s injury-enforced absence from England's training camp continued on Monday with it not yet known how bad his hamstring “niggle” is or, more importantly, how long it will keep him sidelined for.

The 36-man squad that Eddie Jones named last Thursday for the three-day gathering in Bristol had already been depleted before the weekend’s round of Premiership matches, with Brad Shields’ broken cheekbone leaving him unable to train fully and the Saracens contingent playing a bit-part role as they recovered from Sunday’s impressive victory over Gloucester.

But Sunday night also brought news of Joe Marler’s withdrawal due to personal reasons, as well as the absence of both Tuilagi and Ben Youngs from Leicester and Worcester Warriors prop Nick Schonert due to injuries suffered at the weekend.

Yet Leicester were unable to say what Tuilagi’s injury actually was, with the England camp now confirming that he suffered a hamstring issue that, they hope, is not too serious given the wording used by the Tigers’ camp. That confusion was only reinforced with Leicester unable to give an update on Tuilagi on Monday, but it’s hoped that he will be absent for the short-term as opposed to another lengthy period on the sidelines after a string of long-term injuries.

Tuilagi has made just one replacement appearance in more than four years, having suffered injuries to his shoulder, pectoral muscle, groin and knee over that period, and England head coach Jones has been keen to involve him in his plans once he gets up to full speed.

“I've never seen him have as much energy and acceleration since I saw him play in a video,” Jones said last week. “[He looks] really good. It seems to suggest that each week he is getting a little bit better, a little more in the game. The way Leicester are playing now affords him more opportunities in the game which will only keep improving him. He just seems to be mentally in the game.”

England’s new defence coach John Mitchell confirmed that the powerhouse centre had tweaked his hamstring in Saturday’s last-gasp defeat by Worcester, while Youngs and Schonert are missing with an ankle injury and a dead leg respectively.

With Shields in Bristol largely to continue his integration into the squad as he recovers from a broken cheekbone, there were further injury concerns with Billy Vunipola sitting out with a hamstring issue and Joe Launchbury (knee) and Chris Ashton (hamstring) also unable to play a full part.