I DIG THE DIRT

Vunipola’s desperate to get stuck in to Sarries’ Championship campaign and admits: I want to play, not train, I want to get my hands, knees and elbows dirty

BILLY VUNIPOLA is ready to get his hands dirty ahead of Saracens’ Championship campaign in March – and that will give England a Six Nations leg-up.

Vunipola (right) was on parade in Saturday’s 27-26 defeat to Ealing in the Trailfinders Challenge Cup, a pre-season warm-up tournament.

Owen Farrell, Jamie George, Maro Itoje and the rest of Sarries’ England galacticos all had their feet up as the club finally played a first game since October after their relegation shame.

Saracens head Doncaster on Saturday – a million miles from the glitz of Twickenham, Eden Park or Stade de France but Vunipola is desperate to get out there and roll up his sleeves.

The 28-year-old said: “I’d rather play than train. I can’t get my head around training all the time as it’s not my goal.

“I really enjoy playing and being around the boys and also having something to look forward to at the end of the week. I’m a very emotional person so that brings me up as well.

“And I’ve been injured a lot so I want to take advantage of every game I get, every opportunity to toughen my body up to be ready for whatever comes in the future as I’ve been out for a few months consecutively.

“I feel the more I play the better my body is at adapting to the rigours of the game.

“We have been training on rubber crumb the last few weeks and I would like to get on some grass. I hope it is quite muddy up there and I am quite keen to get my elbows and knees dirty.”

Vunipola is expected to be named in England’s Six Nations squad when Eddie Jones (below, with Vunipola) shows his hand on Friday.

The 28-strong party will spend a week at English football’s training base, St George’s Park, before heading to their Teddington bubble before the opener against Scotland on February 6.

And Vunipola is hoping to get a decent internet signal at the football base as he gets his appetite for rugby going before the Six Nations.

He added: “I just hope the wifi is good. I hear it is out in the sticks but with the footballers I know it will be class.

“We spend a lot of time in our rooms so you need to get something to watch.

“I am off Netflix, I am more of a YouTube man. I love watching eating videos, bodybuilding and random stuff. BeardMeatsFood – he is the man.”