England vs Australia: Eddie Jones puts his faith in brute power as he delights at Manu Tuilagi's return

He has played just 17 minutes of international rugby in more than four years, but on Saturday Tuilagi begins his push to make the 2019 Rugby World Cup and prove he's the players Jones always thought he could be

Picture the sight staring back at Australia this Saturday. Ben Te’o, one of the most combative inside centres currently in the international game, will stand outside the hard-hitting Owen Farrell and inside a 19-stone wing in Joe Cokanasiga. That is enough brute force alone to make the eyes water, yet behind them stands the wrecking ball that is Manu Tuilagi, ready to come on and unleash four years of injury misery on the Wallabies.

Make no bones about it, England have gone big this weekend.

The decision to play Te’o was a no-brainer after he came through games against South Africa and New Zealand impressively to dispel doubts over his match fitness, while the one to stick with Cokanasiga on the wing was forced by the loss of Chris Ashton and Jack Nowell to injuries.

But by selecting Tuilagi, Jones hopes to see the man who he hopes can be the forefront of the battering-ram attack that is being prepared for the 2019 Rugby World Cup. The only issue is that Tuilagi has not played a minute of competitive rugby since 6 October, although when you consider that he has played just 17 minutes of rugby in the last four-and-a-half years, seven weeks must have been a breeze for him.

Jones has been careful not to gamble Tuilagi and wreck another season, especially with the World Cup on the horizon, but he finally believes that the risk is worth the reward.

“As long as they’re fit and healthy to play, play them. Then fate takes its way,” Jones said. “I just think it’s been obvious he hasn’t been right. He just couldn’t give that last little one per cent or 0.5 per cent. He got through training (on Wednesday) – we had a pretty fair hit-out – and he got through it no problems at all. So he’s right to go. There’s no reason not to play him.

“He’s a good player. He doesn’t need to do a lot of training. All we’re wanting is for him to do the basics well. Good straight hard running, good hard low tackling, work off the ball, that’s all we want to see from him.

“I just want him to do the simple things well.”

There was a time not so long ago when Jones seemed at a loss with what to do with Tuilagi. Injury-prone, unable to string a handful of games together and having a poor disciplinary record by all accounts, Tuilagi appeared to burn his last remaining bridge when he was sent home from an England camp last year when he and Denny Solomona returned from a late-night drinking session that left them intoxicated for training the following day.

Having already missed the 2015 Rugby World Cup on disciplinary grounds, Tuilagi looked to have ruined another chance to make a name for himself at the global tournament, having been part of the ill-fated 2011 squad.

But this Tuilagi is not the same Tuilagi as the one who jumped off a ferry in Auckland Harbour seven years ago or who was convicted of assaulting two female police officers and a taxi driver in 2015. The realisation that chances to resurrect his England career are running low, combined with the birth of his first child Leilani Lea’auta with fiancée Chantelle Garrity, has seen him mature into the man he is today.

“I am so pleased for Manu because he has really stuck at it,” added Jones. “It’s disheartening when you get little injuries that just stop you from playing. But he has stuck at it, he has been positive, and he is getting rewarded.”

Manu Tuilagi could end his England absence against Australia (PA)

But that has not diminished his character in the slightest. “He just smiled,” Jones said of the moment he told Tuilagi he’d made the cut this week. “He’s been great. He’s come into the camp after a lot of time away from the team with a lot of new guys he didn’t know but he’s mixed really well socially

“He’s got a coffee shop in his room, he’s the king of the pool table, he’s trained really hard and kept a smile on his face. He’s been a real joy to have around the team. We’re all itching to see him play.”

That excitement to see Tuilagi at his devastating best once again is not just within Jones – and the 82,000 that will fill Twickenham this Saturday – but also among his teammates, given that they are fully aware of what he can add to their armoury.

“He’s a game-breaker,” said England co-captain Owen Farrell. “He can make something happen out of nothing. When you play against him, it’s normally not very nice! I’m chuffed for him, to put himself in a position to play international rugby again, and I’m looking forward to seeing him out there.”

Given Farrell’s responsibilities off the pitch, it is no surprise to hear him talk about what Tuilagi offers to the team away from rugby – and predominantly on the pool table – which reveals the lighter side of the powerhouse we all know about on the field.

“He’s skinning everyone so I’m not going near him!” Farrell adds. “He plays rubbish in the morning then takes everyone’s money at night! He’s good at pool.

“I don’t think he brought (his own cue) this week but he had it last week. He plays in flip-flops!

“He’s as good as any coffee barista I’ve seen. We’ve had a few sit-downs in his room. I have a flat white.”

Tuilagi and Joe Cokanasiga could form a brutal back line for England (Getty)

It’s a common theme that runs through this England camp, given that Jamie George was the previous go-to man for a shot of espresso. Tuilagi’s party trick is apparently latte art, with Farrell adding “that’s his go-to thing,” but it seems George – who has been handed a rare start this Saturday in place of Farrell’s co-captain Dylan Hartley – believes he’s had the last laugh.

“It’s a fierce rival, he’s a big man as well so if it kicked off I wouldn’t back myself at all,” jokes George. “Manu only had his coffee machine here for a week, he actually took it home and didn’t bring it back, so read into that what you will…”

From top to bottom, Jones to Farrell to George, it’s clear that the England camp is a happier place with Tuilagi in it rather than out of it. No one knows if Tuilagi will still be in the mix come World Cup time, with his lengthy injury issues potentially robbing him of that something special used to display for England. But what Jones does know for sure that after a tricky 2018, his side are back pointing in the right direction thanks to a promising autumn campaign that, should they defeat the Wallabies this weekend, would be a success by all accounts.

Tuilagi has not played for England since March 2016 (Getty)

“What I do know is that this team is growing, growing in depth, growing in leadership density, growing in the interaction between the players,” he said. “What we’ve seen since the South Africa tour is the fighting spirit within this side and that is only going to get better.”

In fact, if England can continue their 100 per cent record against Australia under Jones, they will end the year with as many wins in 2019 as they have losses. Now who’d have thought that a month ago?