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Auckland - England sensation Manu Tuilagi on Wednesday denied reports linking him with a move to Super Rugby, insisting he was happy with current club Leicester and wanted to carry on playing for his adopted country.
Samoan-born Tuilagi, 20, said he was delighted to have reached his first World Cup and would honour his contract with Leicester.
"I'm really happy to be at Leicester and I've still got a couple of years there," the centre said. "I'm not thinking about the future, I'm just thinking about this World Cup and the game on Saturday."
Tuilagi, who became a full England international in August after beating a deportation threat over his visa, was speaking after his brother Freddie reportedly suggested he could move to the southern hemisphere competition.
"In Manu's situation, he's more likely to come over (to New Zealand)," media quoted Freddie as saying. "In the future he wants to explore different options and experience Super Rugby. Those options are there."
But Manu said he was keen to play for England for as long as possible, with his international career likely to be in jeopardy if he relocates.
"I think when you do something and you like it you just want to do it all your life. I would love to carry on playing for England and win some matches," he said.
"It means everything to get to this level. I feel pretty lucky to be playing for Leicester and England... It's my first World Cup - hopefully it won't be the last."
Tuilagi added he would simply play his "normal game" against Scotland, who have targeted him as one of England's danger men in Saturday's crunch Pool B match after his tries against Georgia and Romania.
"I'm just going to go out there and play my normal game. We've just got to worry about ourselves and not worry about Scotland's game too much. We've got to play our game," said Tuilagi.
And the hulking Tuilagi shrugged off team-mate Mike Tindall's description of him as a "freak".
"I'll take it as a compliment," he said.
It was the same word Will Carling, then England's captain, used to describe New Zealand star Jonah Lomu during the 1995 World Cup in South Africa.
Tuilagi may not have yet trampled over an opposition team in quite the way former All Black wing Lomu did against England in the semi-final 16 years ago but is making his presence felt.
The 20-year-old Tuilagi, four of whose brothers have represented Samoa, has only been a Test player for five matches.
But he has already scored four tries, including one of England's 10 in their Pool B romp against Romania at the Otago Stadium last Saturday.
Tuilagi, qualified for England on residency grounds, only made his Premiership debut in September last year but went on score seven tries in 20 league matches for Leicester.
Tindall, who has moved to inside centre from outside centre to accommodate him in the England team, said: "Manu is getting better and better so it will take something to go wrong to knock him out of that spot.
"He's a freak to be honest, in the nicest possible way.
"The power he's got and his feet and that little change of pace...He's got a massive fend and it just makes it difficult for people to tackle him.
"Even if people do tackle him he's always half-through and we can play off quick ball. He's a handful."
The six-foot-one and 112kg Tuilagi's raw pace and strength are immediately evident.
But some pundits questioned if a centre pairing of Tindall and Tuilagi would be too reliant on brawn rather than brain, as England manager Martin Johnson recalled after Saturday's match.
"When we picked him, everyone talked about brute force and a lack of creativity but the guy can play rugby," Johnson insisted.
"Some of the tries he has scored have been about great lines of running and being a good rugby player," England's 2003 World Cup-winning captain added. "The improvements he has shown with his club and with us have been fantastic."
But former England Under-16 and Under-18 international Tuliagi nearly didn't play Test rugby for his adopted country at all after Britain's Home Office (interior ministry) threatened to deport him last year on the grounds he'd arrived in the UK on a six-month holiday visa that had long since expired.
However, a campaign involving Leicester, England, local politicians and numerous rugby fans helped Tuilagi successfully appeal the decision.
And such is Tuilagi's determination to make the most of that reprieve, he was not resting on his laurels ahead of unbeaten England's final Pool B clash against arch-rivals Scotland in Auckland next weekend.
"I try hard every day, I keep learning and just keep my head down," he said.
"The team performance (against Romania) was good, but there are still things to improve," explained Tuilagi.
And in words that could have come from Johnson, he added: "Against a team like Scotland, we have to finish every opportunity we get and try to keep the ball as long as possible."
