Manu Tuilagi will make his long-awaited return from injury for Sale Sharks against Bristol Bears on Friday evening.
The England centre has been named on the bench for Sale for the encounter, which would be his first action since last September when he ruptured his Achilles in a game against Northampton Saints.
As a result, he did not feature for England in the 2021 Guinness Six Nations, where England finished fifth, after playing three games in their 2020 Championship success.
Sale Sharks boss Alex Sanderson said: “Manu is in great shape. He looks massive. Not out of shape massive, just strong as a bull.
“The lads did some live tackling and he basically gave them a bit of a bump. I had to stop him from running because he was just running through them. It’s really exciting to see. He looked scary out there. Scarily powerful.”
He could come up against Bristol’s Fijian star Semi Radradra, who will start in the midfield for the Bears.
Tuilagi is not the only centre making a return to action, with Ireland’s Bundee Aki making his first appearance since the final game of the Championship against England.
Aki has since been selected for the British & Irish Lions, and will line up in Connacht’s midfield in their Guinness PRO14 Rainbow Cup clash with Benetton.
The Italian side currently lead the way in the Rainbow Cup, with the final against the winners of the South African conference taking place in Italy.
And they will call on a strong Azzurri core, including second rows Niccolò Cannone and Federico Ruzza, as well as a fly-half Paolo Garbisi.
Elsewhere in the Rainbow Cup, Josh Adams will look to continue his fine scoring form as he starts on the wing for Cardiff Blues against Munster on Friday.
Munster have to win the game to keep the pressure on Benetton at the top of the table and the game will be CJ Stander’s final match at Thomond Park before he retires this summer.
Over in France, recent European champions Toulouse will be back in domestic action against Clermont, with European Player of the Season Antoine Dupont, the 2020 Player of the Championship, likely to be a key figure.
