Alesana Tuilagi makes trademark crunching tackle against Bath

Powerhouse winger Alesana Tuilagi has made another crunching hit, this time against Bath and poor Ollie Devoto. The Samoan powerhouse has been playing his rugby in Japan but recently returned to the Aviva Premiership, keen to make his mark.

Alesana, sometimes referred to as Alex, spent two years with the NTT Shining Arcs in Japan, but returned to the Premiership recently, albeit after a delay with visa issues.

He was seen on BT Sport’s Clare Balding Show a few weeks back, alongside brother Manu and fellow pacific islander brothers, Billy and Mako Vunipola, as they spoke about life back home. It was a great interview and we posted a few clips from it, so take a look when you get a chance.

The 33-year-old joins other brother Anitelea (Andy) Tuilagi at Newcastle, hoping to pick up on the form that made him such a star at the Leicester Tigers. He recently spoke of the rugby education he had in Japan, where the game is fast, and the diet is very different.

“I was surprised when I went there. I lived 15 minutes from Tokyo and it’s a crazy place,” he said ahead of joining Newcastle and starting the Premiership season.

“There’s no diet there, the Japanese eat rice for breakfast, lunch and dinner! The rugby is different, the way they train is different; it was a different experience. They don’t have home or away games, they select stadiums around the country and you play everywhere.

“You play one game down south, another up north, but most are in Tokyo. The standard there is good; they play a fast game and there are good players going there so the rugby is developing but it is a different environment.

“The rugby is going very well but the rules are different; they only allow two foreigners on the pitch and two on the bench, so I was playing for 40 minutes, then coming off,” he added. 

This isn’t the biggest hit he’s ever made (view a whole heap of those in the Related Posts below this), but he is somewhat of a rugby legend, especially in the Premiership, so it’s great to see him throwing his considerable weight around again.

credit: premiership rugby