Did anyone see that tackle Perpignan's Henry Tuilagi produced on Northampton and England's Ben Foden? The young full back was almost cut in two by the ferocity of the Samoan's hit during the Heineken Cup match down in south-west France. It is a minor miracle that Foden got to his feet in one piece, although it's hard to feel too sorry for him as he was no doubt consoled later by his girlfriend, "The Saturdays" Una Healy. Anyway, I can sympathise with Mr Foden because I, too, have received similar treatment from Henry Tuilagi, as well as his two brothers, Alessano and Andy, when I had this bright idea of taking the three Tuilagi brothers on in a tackle session at Loughborough University. Away from the pitch the Tuilagis are like all Polynesian rugby players - quiet, unassuming, decent, God-fearing people. Put them in rugby boots, however, and they are transformed into beasts. The first few foraysinto the Tuilagis lair were met with hard tackles by the three brothers, but nothing I couldn't withstand. It was when I tried to be smart that it all went wrong. Having hit the deck on all three previous occasions when attempting to run through the trio I decided to chip the ball over their heads and collect the bouncing ball once it and I had passed by. The first part of this challenge was met with aplomb. The ball sailed high over the Tuilagis heads and bounced five metres behind them. The second part went horribly wrong. Henry decided that I was not going to pass, with or without the ball. His shoulder crashed into the side of my faceso ferociously that watching observers from 40 metres away on the touchline heard the crack. I went down and stayed down until the Tuilagis helped me to my feet. I was unable to chew for a week, and to this day the likes of Puma's Mike Workman, who was present to witness the slaughter, stilltalks about the incident before virtually anything else when we meet. So, the moral of the story from both myself and Ben Foden is - never run into Henry Tuilagi, with or without the ball!
