Mako set to return as Jones shuffles pack

MAKO VUNIPOLA is set to return to England colours against Italy next Sunday after Eddie Jones watched him play 70 minutes of Saracens’ Aviva Premiership defeat at Gloucester on Friday.

The 26-year-old Lion played his first game since December, having missed two months with knee ligament damage, as the defending champions lost their second successive game with a raft of stars away on Six Nations duty.

Vunipola impressed at Kingsholm and could wear the No1 shirt against the Azzurri in an England team in which centre Ben Te’o is expected to make his first start. Captain Dylan Hartley’s position is also under increasing pressure from in-form Saracens hooker Jamie George.

‘He felt pretty good,’ said Saracens director of rugby Mark McCall when asked about Vunipola’s contribution at loosehead. ‘I thought he did well, given he’s been out for eight or nine weeks. Overall, he was pretty decent.

‘I am assuming he is going to play against Italy in some form, and I think the gametime he got tonight will have been important for him.’

Mako’s younger brother Billy is recovering from his knee injury faster than expected, giving him an outside chance of featuring in the Six Nations.

McCall said: ‘He is definitely ahead of schedule and it will depend how the next week or so goes regarding when he comes back.

Jones intends to make changes after England’s 21-16 win over Wales in Cardiff last Saturday.

‘We’ll look at playing a different sort of team,’ Jones said.

ENGLAND (probable): Brown; Nowell, Joseph, Te’o, Daly; Farrell, Youngs; M Vunipola, Hartley (capt), Cole; Launchbury, Lawes; Itoje, Hughes, Haskell.