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WATCH: Manu Tuilagi escapes any sanction for shoulder-to-head hit on Tommy Allan

by SOMINSFASHIONBLOG

Sale Sharks and England centre Manu Tuilagi has not been cited for his challenge on Harlequins fly-half Tommy Allan at the Stoop.

Tuilagi mistimed his tackle on Allan during Sale’s 24-16 victory over Quins in the Premiership on Sunday, with the challenge forcing the Italian fly-half off the pitch.

‘I don’t see any foul play there’

The incident occurred in the 55th minute when Sale Sharks scrum-half Gus Warr stuck a box-kick up, which Allan sprinted forward to field.

Sale wing Tom O’Flaherty mistimed his chase and managed to get out of the way of an oncoming Allan, who had misjudged the flight of the ball and the timing of his jump.

Allan fumbled the ball in the air but extended himself forward in an attempt to regather. At this point, his knees hit the ground, and Tuilagi hit him at full tilt.

Referee Wayne Barnes deemed that Tuilagi was not at fault due to Allan’s drop in height and the centre being on his knees when making the hit.

“He’s falling to the floor; I don’t see any foul play there,” Barnes said.

Play eventually resumed some eight minutes later once Allan had been stretchered off the pitch, with Sale getting the feed to the resulting scrum.

BT Sports’ commentary team agreed with Barnes’ decision at the time, and the citing commissioner has too, as Tuilagi will not front a disciplinary panel, the RFU has confirmed.

Italy’s fly-half crisis

While there were concerns over his well-being from supporters, Quins released a quote from the man himself confirming that he was ‘all good’.

Allan is set to miss the upcoming Champions Cup match against Racing 92, but last week Harlequins boss Tabai Matson confirmed that Marcus Smith is scheduled to return in the fixture. Will Edwards is the other fly-half option at Harlequins’ disposal.

Italy could have an injury crisis for the Six Nations, with Allan probably joining Paolo Garbisi on the sidelines.