It doesn’t matter. If everyone was at their peak... it is still too tough to decide. [citation needed] He was named Manusamoa, after the name of the Samoan national team, Manu Samoa, because his brother Freddie was selected for Samoa at the World Cup in 1991, the year Manu was born.[5]. Family: He was part of a Leicester family, with all four of his brothers playing for the team as well. A breakthrough year in 2010/11 heralded a new hero and, although ‘that’ meeting with Chris Ashton produced its share of the headlines, there were plenty more magical moments with club and country over the following seasons. [9], He began his first season, 2010–11, with the senior Tigers side. England won 38–21 – their largest ever winning margin over the All Blacks. Tuilagi said he would prefer to play internationally for England, where he had grown up and played all of his rugby. He played for the Lions on their 2013 tour to Australia, winning one cap. Tuilagi grew up with five rugby-playing brothers, including his eldest sibling Fereti (better known as Freddie) who went on to star for Samoa and have a career in Rugby Union and Rugby League. He is the younger brother of Freddie, Henry, Alesana, Anitelea and Sanele Vavae Tuilagi, all of whom are Samoan internationals and also played for Leicester. "It’s part of him. He has played internationally for England and the British and Irish Lions. Aged 15, he moved back to Leicester, joining the Leicester Tigers academy. As Tigers fans, we’ve seen that star burn brightly for nearly a decade and now we’ll have a few years more. A Tuilagi has been at the heart of the Tigers Family for nearly two decades The big news that Manu has decided to stay will take the Tuilagi Tigers dynasty past its 20th anniversary at the club. One of his strongest international performances came in the final match of the 2012 Autumn internationals, against the World Cup winners New Zealand at Twickenham. However, his illegal immigrant status threatened to derail his promising career. Our journalists strive for accuracy but on occasion we make mistakes. "They would say, 'Oh, your brothers are playing for Samoa; we’re gonna smash you,' he revealed. But a life in England looked like a pipe dream when he was just 13. "The Sun", "Sun", "Sun Online" are registered trademarks or trade names of News Group Newspapers Limited. [20] As one of the starting XV, he scored a try in the 44th minute underneath the posts after an inside pass from Jonny Wilkinson. [8], Tuilagi represented Leicester in the Middlesex Sevens at Twickenham in 2009. Even in the trophy-filled years around the millennium and the special days in Cup Finals at home and abroad, the memory of one particular Freddie try at Welford Road still ranks right up there as a spine-tingler. He also gave me Dolce and Gabbana perfume and some handbags. People born under the Taurus zodiac sign are often incredibly dedicated, reliable and dependable. The family moved to the UK when Freddie, now 48, was playing for the Cardiff Blues. Please note that calls to Leicester Tigers may be recorded for training and monitoring purposes. Tuilagi returned to the England squad in March 2016 for the 2016 Six Nations Championship after not playing for the national side due to injury and disciplinary reasons since June 2014.