Vunipola owes Jones a performance fitting of an ‘undroppable’
The simplest way to start a conversation about Billy Vunipola is to admit that he has been rubbish – the word he has used to describe his performances. The carries, the impact and the all-round destructive force he brings to the England team have all been lacking, most notably against Scotland. He has looked off the pace and he has made precious little impact on a team that badly needs a win in Cardiff today.
The question is what to do about it. The answer, according to Eddie Jones, is nothing. His continued selection confirms that Billy belongs to that group of players – and I’m thinking of Owen Farrell, Ben Youngs and Elliot Daly here – who he deems undroppable, no matter their form. And the more attention is put on his selection, the more Eddie is likely to dig his heels in.
If you are a Sam Simmonds or an Alex Dombrandt fan that must be incredibly frustrating. As a player you can accept it when someone in brilliant form is keeping you out of the team, but instead we keep hearing that Billy needs to get back up to speed through playing games. You don’t normally get the opportunity to do that in an England shirt, although these are clearly unusual circumstances for Saracens players who have not been able to play club rugby.
My fear is that if it takes three or four games you may only have him at full throttle for one Six Nations match, which feels wrong. Simmonds and Dombrandt are doing well at Exeter and Harlequins, but they must wonder if their faces simply don’t fit under Jones.
Of the two I think Dombrandt is more likely to eventually get a chance – his bulk is clearly what Eddie wants from a No8 – but that doesn’t look like happening soon. Rugby is a ruthless business, but certain individuals do seem exempt from seeing that side of Jones.
That is due to credit in the bank, of course, because every coach starts selecting their team with eight-10 players they absolutely know will not let them down. In the first four years of Jones’ reign there was no question Vunipola was among that number, but he has not been at his best since before the World Cup, in my view.
That continued into the Six Nations with Vunipola making three carries against Scotland for a total of 13 metres gained, which is astonishingly low for a player of his quality. In contrast, Matt Fagerson carried the ball 15 times over a total of 54 metres. The hope will be that he showed enough against Italy to suggest he may be finding some of his usual zip but this is a really big game for him.
The issue is that Billy does need time to get fully fit, and only matches can really do that for him. You can see he is slightly sluggish, particularly when picking the ball from the base of the scrum. I also think England have had to change their back row selection to almost accommodate the fact Billy is underperforming. I would have liked to of seen more of Ben Earl and Jack Willis (prior to his injury) but Courtney Lawes and Mark Wilson have been brought in on the flank alongside Tom Curry as an insurance policy. Both are consistent and guarantee physicality and a line-out option, albeit Lawes is now ruled out too.
Billy owes England and Eddie Jones, and this weekend he needs to repay them. If he struggles today you wonder if Eddie may finally have to consider making a change for the France game, with Gregory Alldritt a top-class performer.
If he comes through well then not only Eddie but also Warren Gatland will be cheered. Most people would have expected Billy to be the Lions No8 if fit but these concerns over how long it takes him to get up to speed will remain an issue in the summer, due to the Saracens issue.
We all know that when Billy is at his best he is unstoppable but for the potential England and Lions No 8, it really doesn’t get much bigger than today.