I won't be stung by Wasps - Ales

May 20 2007 Wales on Sunday

GIANT winger Alesana Tuilagi is determined to be Leicester's smiling assassin in today's Heineken Cup final against Wasps.

Tuilagi was sent off at Twickenham last season after a brawl with Lewis Moody during Samoa's defeat to England.

And he expects Wasps to try to get under his skin again today as Leicester - the EDF Energy Cup winners and Guinness Premiership champions - go in search of an unprecedented trophy treble.

But the 6ft 3in 19-stone wrecking-ball insists he will have the perfect response to the wind-up merchants.

"They might try to disturb my concentration and try to make me do stuff like that," Tuilagi said.

"But I will be careful. I will be cool. I will just walk away and smile. I have learned from that incident not to get involved.

"All I think about is to look for work, look for the ball and have no fear. I am very confident. I just play how the coaches tell me - to find space and run through people."

Ryan Lamb, Gloucester's prodigiously talented but comparatively feather-weight fly-half, is living testament to that.

Tuilagi bulldozed through the England Saxons' fly-half and scored two tries in a devastating man-of-the-match display as Leicester sealed the Premiership title.

It was a performance reminiscent of New Zealand legend Jonah Lomu, who Tuilagi idolised as a kid - and is working to emulate as a player.

"I watched Lomu a lot. I have lots of video tapes of him. He was a great player, the way he moved, the way he ran. I watched him play against England in that match in the 1995 World Cup semi-final," he said. "When we were kids we would play rugby after school until it was too dark to see the ball.

"Everyone wanted to be Lomu.

"I have always been a winger. Strength was not a problem for me but this season my body fat has gone down. I have more muscle - and it's a big difference."

All of which makes Paul Sackey a brave man. The Wasps and England winger predicted all Tuilagi will see of him tomorrow are the bottom of his boots.

"Is that what he said? I have a few ideas for Paul Sackey," Tuilagi laughed.

The Samoan is not Leicester's only Pacific powerhouse. Seru Rabeni, the Fijian, will line up on the opposite wing this afternoon.

Both come hunting off their respective wings and between them they reduced Gloucester to a quivering wreck last weekend. Wasps will need all their defensive fortitude in today's clash.