England centre Manu Tuilagi will be able to go on his adopted country’s tour of South Africa after being cleared of performing a ‘tip’ tackle during the Premiership final defeat by Harlequins the Rugby Football Union announced on Tuesday.
The 21-year-old Samoan-born back – who made the wrong sort of headlines after England’s quarter-final exit in the World Cup by jumping off a boat in Auckland Harbour – was cited for an alleged ‘tip’ tackle on Danny Care in Saturday’s 30-23 defeat by Harlequins.
An RFU statement said: “A citing charge brought against Manusamoa Tuilagi of Leicester Tigers was tonight dismissed.
“An RFU disciplinary panel of Christopher Quinlan QC (chair), Dan White and Nick Dark was not satisfied on the balance of probabilities that the referee was wrong in not sending the player off for a tackle on Harlequins’ Danny Care during the Premiership final between the teams on May 26.
“Tuilagi is therefore free to continue playing and will fly out to South Africa with the England squad tomorrow evening (Wednesday).”
England travel to South Africa next month to play five matches in what is Stuart Lancaster’s first tour as coach.