Battle of No 8s looms as highlight of tour

The Beast is yet to be released and there’s only hope from England that Billy Vunipola will get back on the field during the Six Nations. Someone has circled the March 19 away test with Ireland for the No 8’s return but that is done as much with optimism as certainty while Vunipola continues to heal after knee ligament surgery.

His absence with the tournamentending injury to the experienced former captain Chris Robshaw and restricted time for Tom Wood and James Haskell, has reduced England’s range of loose-forward expertise.

England have got strong production from Maro Itoje, Nathan Hughes and Jack Clifford but they are a rookie loose-forward trio without a bank of tests to work up an understanding and deliver a consistent damaging edge.

England supremo Eddie Jones has been forced to change his strategies to compensate for the absence of Vunipola’s bludgeoning power which is the foundation for a large chunk of the side’s potency.

It’s been a frustrating wait for both coach and player although England have kept their unbeaten sequence on Jones’ watch. The coach feels Vunipola has the talent to be the best No 8 in the world and, with his injured brother Mako, can inflict crucial damage on attack.

In this part of the world, All Blacks coach Steve Hansen will offer an economical “is that right?” retort and some pithy lines about “we’ve got a fairly useful joker who wears the same number” when the inevitable questions arrive about who is the best No 8.

Hansen is in a holding pattern with his No 8 and captain Kieran Read, who is set to return to Super rugby action in mid-April after surgery on a wrist injury.

Lions coach Warren Gatland is similarly stalled in his quest to compare his No 8 options against the prime calibre of Vunipola for the mid-year tour to New Zealand.

Time is their ally and class is their comfort as Andy Robinson, a loose-forward for England and the