Manu 12 or 13?

[tigerseb]

With what we have a tigers i'd always see him as a 13 but with his recent England performances they beg to differ.

Have a read..
http://www.thisisleicestershire.co.uk/M ... story.html

What are your thoughts?

[sam16111986]

I've seen people compare him to Nonu which I suppose is apt and England clearly hope to see the same impact on the international scene. However, Manu's running style is half a centres and half a wingers, he has a really good outside break and despite his size flourishes most when given space to attack. I think shoving him to IC just stiffles his attacking instincts and limits his ability to effect the outcome of the game.

[Will S]

Advantage of playing Manu at 12 is you get to send him down the 10 channel where his power can really pay off.

Advantage of playing him at 13 is that he may get more space.

I think the real deciding factor is who you can play alongside him. Tigers have two great inside centres in Allen and Bodwen so it is fair to move Manu to 13. England probably have greater strength at 13 with Joseph, Lowe etc so would prefer to play Manu at 12.

In all honesty centres should be fairly interchangable so it shouldn't really matter.

[Jeremy Anderson]

Agreed - number on shirt does not matter cf Will Greenwood
Best to swap centres around depending on game situation for example against Ryan Lamb playing 10 you might let Manu have a direct run at him!

[physiodan]

Manu Can play both equally well and with more game time in the 12 shirt for England will help him in his later career as he loses a yard of pace (like Nonu has and Umaga did). What Tigers need to do is move him around on the pitch. play some moves where he slots in at 12, and then at 13 but make sure on occasions he is there as a dummy. The pace and footwork of Allen and Bowden if given space at 13 through the threat of Manu in the 12 slot could be devastating especially if they can feed the inside ball to geordan or Manu over the gain line.

Manu in the 13 slot is also important because it allows for the likes of Mafi, Waldrom and the ball carriers in the front 5 to have a little more space as defending 12 steps out. Likewise, it can bring the dfeneding winger in 2-3m whihc with a miss pass and gas to bun our new wingers will embrace.