Thursday 1 September 2016 12:40, UK
Manu Tuilagi is ready to prove himself the world's most destructive centre this season, according to Leicester team-mate Peter Betham.
Tuilagi is finally fit after a torrid 18-month groin problem, followed by a hamstring strain that ruled him out of England's Test series win in Australia.
Both England and the British and Irish Lions will be hoping Tuilagi can strike back to prime form this term, to assume pivotal roles in each set-up.
Aussie Betham said: "Manu's number one in the world in terms of what he brings as a 12. Of course there's different 12s in the world such as Kurtley Beale, he plays a totally different game.
"But in terms of what he brings to the table, with his skill-sets, he's number one.
"There's a fair few subtleties to his game that he has only been able to express in small doses.
"If you get the right people around him you'll soon find that he'll expose us all to more of those subtleties in his game."
While Leicester deploy Tuilagi most often at 12 England boss Eddie Jones remains keen to see the powerful strike runner at outside centre.
Betham believes the specific centre partnership must always come before numbers on backs.
"There's a fair few things we need to work on and develop," said Betham, gearing up for Leicester's Premiership season opener at Gloucester on Friday night.
"Last year was a good starting point for us, but hopefully we can see some highlights throughout the year.
"We approach the partnership, Manu and myself, 12 and 13, as just numbers. We can interlink with the roles that we play.
"And it also gives that bit of versatility when it comes to teams, and we can change it up each week.
"Our focus is putting the right people in the right places, whether that's him at 12 or me at 12, it's about our 10s and nines picking the right options.
"Having threats across the park is a really big positive for both of us, as well as for the entire team."
