RETURN ON HOLD FOR CHILL BILL
BILLY VUNIPOLA is being kept on ice by Saracens, who have confirmed he is not ready to face Bath on Sunday.
The England No.8 has been out since breaking his arm against the Ospreys on January 13 and missed the whole of the Six Nations.
Vunipola will have another week off after the Bath match as Sarries are out of the Champions Cup and they hope to unleash him against London Irish on April 29.
Boss Mark McCall said: “We have done without him for most of the season, but everyone knows he is a top player and to have some strength in depth and options at this point of the year is great.
“He is training and is the fittest Billy Vunipola we have had in a long time. He has been very disciplined at the training ground and is in as good shape as he has been.”
But Sarries will have South African lock/back rower Michael Rhodes, who qualifies for England in the summer, back from a horrific hamstring injury.
Rhodes tore the muscle off the bone in the same game that Vunipola was crocked but trained fully yesterday. Cursed Rhodes was injured just after returning from two shoulder operations but is fresh for the run-in.
McCall added: “Michael had that shoulder operation and then he had to have another when he got it infected. He came back and then ripped his hamstring off the bone so is just on his way back from that.”
Exeter fly-half Joe Simmonds has been named Aviva Premiership Player of the Month for March and veteran prop Gethin Jenkins, 37, has signed a new one-year deal with Cardiff Blues.