Jones’ defence coach John Mitchell has worked with explosive, powerful runners before, notably All Blacks legend Mils Muliaina at the 2003 World Cup, and gave two-time world champion Ma’a Nonu his international debut in the months leading up to that tournament.
In Tuilagi he sees a man who has changed in maturity, a player as comfortable at inside centre – where he played for England in this year’s Six Nations – as at outside centre, where he has so far been pushed in this tournament as Jones has gone for the George Ford-Farrell axis at 10 and 12.
Mitchell says: “Manu understands that both roles have different defensive and attacking decision-making aspects.
“When he plays 12, he’s closer to the attack and at 13 he gets to have a bit more speed and really run onto the ball, and it’s a little more one-on-one rather than two-on-two as a 12.
“Defensively he has the ability when at 13 to spook the attacker. He doesn’t always get a hit in, but when he does get hold of you he can certainly feed attack through good defence. He’s also very comfortable in space as well.
“He just goes about his footy in a really quiet way. He’s a ‘doer’ rather than a talker.
“He enjoys one-on-one conversations, and he’s a good thinker on the game – when you go and have a conversation about a situation, he’s really coachable.
“With the Manu we see now, the leadership is clear for him. He’s being managed specifically, so I think he gains a lot of confidence from that, with the previous physical limitations he had from all those injuries.
“He’s also grateful and respectful that he’s at this tournament.
“You never know if you’re going to get an opportunity on this world stage ever again, so there’s a real sense of unfinished business in his eyes.”