JINXED BILLY SET TO MISS SIX NATIONS

BILLY VUNIPOLA is set to miss the six Nations after his injury jinx struck again.

Playing only his second game since returning from knee surgery, England’s star No8 fractured his forearm against ospreys on saturday night.

An x-ray yesterday confirmed the hammer blow, condemning the 25-year-old (above) to another extended period out of the game.

“one of these days I might actually be able to play more than 2 games without breaking (no pun intended),” Vunipola wrote on Instagram.

“I said it before and I’ll say it again, God has a plan for me, it’s just hard having to be patient!”

The saracens ace managed only 12 games in 2017, cut down by serious knee and shoulder injuries which ruled him out of the Lions tour and all but one of England’s 10 Tests.

his absence presents a major problem for England boss Eddie Jones, who has also lost Nathan hughes (inset) to injury for at least the first half of the championship. sam simmonds and Zach Mercer would appear to be next in line but simmonds only made his full debut in England’s last game and Mercer has yet to be capped.

“Billy is due to see a specialist later this week, when a timeframe for recovery may be defined,” said a saracens spokesman. Vunipola returned to action only a week ago after four months recovering from knee surgery.

his all-action display that day against Wasps was hailed as “extraordinary” by sarries boss Mark Mccall and team-mate Maro Itoje admitted: “some of the stuff Billy was doing was just unbelievable.”

Vunipola promptly pledged not to change his ways nor go easy on opponents in an effort to avoid further injury.

“For me, there is no point coming back and feeling your way around things,” he said. “If I’m going to get injured, I’m going to get injured. That’s the way I look at it.”