Manu Tuilagi visits witch doctor to drive out evil spirits and beat injury woes as he plots England return
Leicester Tigers star claims he had three women 'attached' to his body who were draining his energy and making him injured
MANU TUILAGI claims a witch doctor has driven out three evil spirits who placed an injury curse on him.
The troubled England ace travelled back to Samoa last week to see a spiritual healer on the island of Upolu, an hour’s boat ride from the mainland.
Tuilagi, who is recovering from a knee problem, was lathered in a special Fijian massage oil for four days to lock out the deadly female ghouls who turned his last three seasons into a nightmare.
The battering-ram centre revealed after the exorcism: “I saw the witch doctor for two hours a day. She is half-Fijian and half-Samoan.
“It’s a spiritual thing. My mum spoke to her and asked for her help before I got out there and the witch doctor said she had found out what the illness was.
“She massaged my whole body, all I needed was a towel and a Fijian oil. She found out that there were three lady spirits who had married themselves onto me for the last three years.
“The witch doctor told me that was why I had been injured. The spirits wanted me for themselves, they wanted to punish me and injuring me was the way to do it. Every time I played — bang!
“Instead of beating me physically they made sure I was injured. But that is gone now and the whole body massages have blocked the spirits from me.
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“They can’t see and find me now — but maybe when it comes out in this newspaper they will know again!
“This is the first time I have done it and I hope to be back in mid-December. I can see the light at the end of the tunnel.”
Tuilagi has also suffered from a horrific groin injury and played just a handful of games for Leicester Tigers since signing a £400,000-a-year deal in 2015.
The 26-year-old had the blessing of his club boss Matt O’Connor and the Welford Road physio Ed Hollis to travel back to his homeland.
Speaking ahead of Rugby Tonight on BT Sport, he said: “I was given my programme — pilates, physio and rehab — which I would do after seeing the witch doctor.
"I was with my brother Alex. The conditions of the treatment meant I wasn’t able to go anywhere on my own.
“I wasn’t allowed to sleep in the room by myself, so me and Alex set up a little camp in the living room in front of the TV.
“In most of these cases, the girls end up taking their victims alive and will never be seen.”
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Tuilagi has also apologised for his booze-bender with Denny Solomona the night before an England practice session back in June.
Furious coach Eddie Jones sent the hungover pair home.
Tuilagi said: “Eddie has been okay with me. He was disappointed, but we talked and I explained my reasons and he understood.
“Mentally, it was a factor. It was frustration at not being able to do what I wanted to do on the training pitch and that came into it.
“But there is no excuse for it, it’s unacceptable. Whatever has happened has happened, it’s gone and I will move forward.”
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