Sam Warburton believes England cannot leave Manu Tuilagi out of their side to face Wales this weekend.
Despite just recovering from injury, the two-time Lions captain believes Eddie Jones has little choice but to pick a player of Tuilagi's quality for their Six Nations clash with Wayne Pivac's side this Saturday.
In his column for the Times, Warburton opened up on the first time he came across a teenage Tuilagi in a pre-season match as he explained why
"As much as it appears a little desperate to go back to him so swiftly after injury, I expect England to select Tuilagi," wrote the former Wales skipper.
"Tuilagi is simply the sort of player you do not want to face. There are not many of those around, but he is certainly one of them. If he hits you, you know all about it.
"He was only a teenager when he hit me in a pre-season match for Cardiff Blues against Leicester Tigers, and I was in complete shock. I lost the ball and everything. I remember saying: “What the hell happened there?” I had never been so rattled in my life."
It should be noted that Tuilagi's record against Wales isn't exactly brilliant.
As pointed out by rugby statistician Russ Petty on Twitter, he's won in just two of his five starts against Wales - identical to his record against New Zealand. In fact, he only boasts a worse record in Test rugby against South Africa.
Ironically, perhaps the moment he's most synonymous with against Wales involved Warburton and actually saw Tuilagi come up short in a Triple Crown clash in 2012.
In a tight clash decided by Scott Williams' second-half try, Warburton's remarkable try-saving tackle on Tuilagi proved crucial.
That's not to say he won't be a threat if selected, with Warburton predicting his presence could even change how Pivac approaches the game.
"England just cannot leave him out, in my opinion," he added.
"Wales would much rather he didn’t play. I can just imagine the scene in their camp on Thursday.
"Before afternoon training the management would always post the opposition team on the board in the team room for us to look at.
"I can picture seeing Tuilagi’s name there next Thursday and thinking: “Ah, here we go.”
"It may influence Wales’s selection too. They may go with Jonathan Davies and Owen Watkin at centre because of their physicality and defensive qualities."
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