Mako to make big return
Jones ready to fast-track Vunipola to face Argentina
England are preparing to fast-track Mako Vunipola into the starting XV to face Argentina in Tokyo on Saturday.
Vunipola has not started a match since Saracens’ victory in the Champions Cup final against Leinster in May, because of a torn hamstring that required surgery, and has since managed only 17 minutes off the bench for England, in their World Cup warm-up match against Ireland in August, when he damaged scar tissue.
Vunipola has been edging back to full fitness, starting with a live scrummaging session during the squad’s pre-tournament training camp in Miyazaki, and climaxing with an intense training session in Kobe on Friday. It has left Eddie Jones, the England head coach, with arguably the toughest selection decision of his World Cup campaign.
Joe Marler has raised his game impressively as Vunipola’s deputy since the Harlequins loosehead came out of international retirebusiness ment to make himself available for the World Cup campaign. Ellis Genge has proved to be explosive from the bench, typified by his 60-metre break in the victory over the United States in Kobe.
“Joe brings a real aggressive attitude to anything he does. He hits hard defensively and is a good setpiece technician,” said Neal Hatley, England’s scrum coach. “Against Tonga he was very good. It is not often you see Tongan forwards getting speared backwards and Joe was at the forefront of that. He scrummaged well against America. He is probably fitter than he has ever been.”
It is unarguable that Vunipola has enormous credit in the bank, having proven himself one of England’s genuine world-class forwards over the past two years. His scrummaging has improved significantly since he won his place in the Lions Test side against New Zealand in 2017, while his loose play rivals the best of back-row forwards. He made an incredible 25 tackles in England’s victory over Ireland in the
Six Nations last season, and repeatedly acts as a fulcrum for his side’s attacking game, with his relentless carrying and distribution skills. “Yeah [it will be] real tough,” conceded Hatley when asked about the quandary that the England management now face over the loosehead selection.
The markers point to a return for Vunipola. As Hatley himself admitted when Vunipola picked up a knee injury during England’s Six Nations campaign, “you don’t really replace someone like Mako”. Jones has the option of bringing the 28-year-old, who has 54 caps, on to the bench against Argentina as a softer landing ahead of the crunch Pool C match against France on Oct 12. The stronger argument is that he needs as much game time as possible. As Hatley said: “Sometimes you’re better off starting with the adrenaline pumping rather than sitting on the bench.”
First Vunipola will have to come through what is likely to be a brutal three days of scrummaging drills, which started yesterday.