BRING BACK 2016 SPIRIT
Mako: It’s time for war again
MAKO VUNIPOLA has urged England to rediscover the warrior spirit of six years ago Down Under – and fight their way out of the last-chance saloon.
England are 1-0 down in the three-Test series in Australia, so it’s win or bust against Dave Rennie’s Wallabies in the second Test in Brisbane on Saturday.
Back in 2016, England’s last series in Australia, the visitors won the first Test in the best-of-three series.Vunipola started the second, which England took 23-7, holding out despite being bombarded by the Australians.
That remains one of the best defensive performances of the Eddie Jones era andVunipola wants more of the same after England leaked three tries in the 30-28 disaster in Perth last Saturday.
Prop Vunipola said: “As a forward those are the things you remember, when you are on your line and fighting for 12 phases.”
“Being able to stick in the trenches with your brothers next to you, that is the feeling you started playing rugby for.
“There’s no tomorrow now for us. We’ve got our backs against the wall. In a way it’s probably easier than when you win the first one and you know they’re going to come at you. “The Test series is on the line and we need to put in a performance we can be proud of.
“It is time for us to show what we’re about as a team. We’ve got nowhere to hide. We’ve got to put our best foot forward. If we do that, we can come off the field with our heads held high.
“I don’t think we did that enough last week and the result showed it. “Physically, I was OK, but the mental pain was tough to take. Mentally, a lot of us were struggling on Saturday night but we stuck together.”
Defence coach Anthony Seibold said: “Look at our leaders like Courtney Lawes, Owen Farrell and Ellis Genge – you know if you had to go to war those guys are going to stand up.” Sam Underhill is favourite to fill England’s No.7 spot for the second Test, a vacancy left by flanker Tom Curry, who flies home today after being concussed in the Perth defeat. Seibold added: “Sam was one of the outstanding players at the 2019 World Cup. He’s competed really strongly to put himself in the frame for the second Test.”