{"id":521289,"date":"2025-10-23T04:23:20","date_gmt":"2025-10-23T04:23:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/521289\/"},"modified":"2025-10-23T04:23:20","modified_gmt":"2025-10-23T04:23:20","slug":"in-demand-manu-tuilagi-settles-his-future-until-2027-world-cup","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/521289\/","title":{"rendered":"In demand Manu Tuilagi settles his future until 2027 World Cup"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Bayonne<\/a> have staved off any suitors for former England<\/a> centre Manu Tuilagi<\/a> by agreeing a new deal which will run until 2027.<\/p>\n

The 34-year-old\u2019s contract in the Basque Country was due to expire at the end of the season, and he had attracted interest from <\/a>Japan<\/a> Rugby League One and the breakaway R360 competition, which is spearheaded by his former England centre partner Mike Tindall.<\/p>\n

In a brief statement online, Bayonne wrote: \u201cAgeing like a fine wine. Our English centre will continue to torment defences and attacks next season.\u201d<\/p>\n

His new deal will expire just before the 2027 World Cup, where, at the age of 36, he could make a return to international rugby with Samoa, the country of his birth. Having earned the last of his 60 England caps in 2024, the centre will have undertaken World Rugby\u2019s three-year stand-down period required to switch national allegiances.<\/p>\n

With that said, a switch to represent Samoa<\/a> would be contingent on the team qualifying for the World Cup. Samoa take part in the Rugby World Cup<\/a> Regional play-off and Final Qualification Tournament in Dubai next month against Belgium, Namibia<\/a> and Paraguay, with the last of the 24 World Cup places up for grabs.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

England <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Australia <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Given the form he has shown for Bayonne since making the move to the Top 14<\/a> from Sale Sharks<\/a> in 2024, it is not inconceivable that the 2013 British & Irish Lion could make a return to England to take part in his fourth World Cup (he missed the 2015 tournament).<\/p>\n

Tuilagi has been one of the best centres in France<\/a> over the past year, where he has largely remained injury-free since breaking his hand soon after arriving at the Stade Jean-Dauger.<\/p>\n

Alongside his Fijian centre partner, Sireli Maqala<\/a>, the 110kg centre was a member of the Top 14 team of the season in his debut campaign, as Bayonne finished fourth. He missed the semi-final defeat to eventual champions Toulouse, however, due to injury.<\/p>\n

Tuilagi has picked up where he left off this season, though, as Bayonne sit in second place in the league.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Bayonne have staved off any suitors for former England centre Manu Tuilagi by agreeing a new deal which…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":521290,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4102],"tags":[4151,79,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-521289","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-rugby","8":"tag-rugby","9":"tag-sports","10":"tag-uk","11":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115421577763519904","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/521289","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=521289"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/521289\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/521290"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=521289"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=521289"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=521289"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}