British & Irish Lions centre Manu Tuilagi will not play again this season, according to Leicester director of rugby Richard Cockerill.
Tuilagi made three starts on the Lions tour to Australia in 2013 but suffered a nerve injury against Queensland Reds which kept him out of action for two weeks.
He then returned as a replacement in the series-clinching Test in Sydney to help Warren Gatland’s squad claim their first win on Australian soil since 1989.
But the 23-year-old’s season has again been hampered by injury problems and Cockerill admitted the groin strain Tuilagi sustained in October will keep him out for at least another month.
“He won’t play this season,” Cockerill told the Daily Telegraph. “He’ll probably be fit in the early part of June ready for England’s World Cup preparations.
“He is improving slowly. Groins are a probably the hardest thing to deal with and get to the bottom of.
“I know everyone would like it to be an exact science, but it’s not. He is improving but he’s not right yet.”
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