Vunipola warns England against taking gung- ho approach in Rome clash with Italy
Billy Vunipola has warned England to stop their vital pursuit of tries against Italy turning today's Guinness Six Nations title match into a costly game of sevens.
England must s ecure an overwhelming bonus- point triumph at the Stadio Olimpico to put themselves in the best possible position to claim the third piece of major silverware of the Eddie Jones era.
The final element of ' Super Saturday' unfolds i n Paris where the Championship will be in Ireland's hands - a maximum five- point haul against France is guaranteed to propel them to the title.
For the first time since 2015 and exactly a year after losing the World Cup final to South Africa, England enter the climatic day in hot pursuit of points and Vunipola knows the dangers of becoming too frenzied.
Five years ago the Saracens No 8 was present for a thrilling 55- 35 victory over France at Twickenham that saw them finish one converted try short of being crowned champions instead of Ireland.
"One thing that I learnt from that game was that we had the intention of trying to put points on the board, but we let it become too frantic," Vunipola said. "We didn't set the foundations of playing in the right areas, making sure first we wore them down. We allowed it to become like sevens.
"We don't want the game to become a sevens festival, we want t o play good English rugby and that means giving a solid platform for the backs. Hopefully when t he game does break up, we'll put some points on the board."