MAKO VUNIPOLA
England prop insists he’s still on track for Six Nations action
MAKO Vunipola will miss England’s opening Six Nations clash against Scotland but declares his return is on track and aims to cap the season by achieving his dream of playing in a third British & Irish Lions series this summer.
Vunipola pulled out of England’s Autumn Nations Cup final against France with an Achilles injury. He is running again ahead of this week’s training camp at St George’s Park but Eddie Jones has chosen to leave him out of the 28-man squad to continue his rehabilitaion.
The popular 69-cap prop told The Rugby Paper: “My Achilles is coming along nicely and I started running again last week. It’s feeling good so hopefully I can step that up now and get some really good conditioning under my belt – everything’s going to plan as far as I’m concerned.
“Part of the reason I didn’t play in the French game was because we didn’t want any long-term damage to the Achilles and as soon as the call was made, I understood I had the Six Nations to aim for.
I’m very confident that I’ll be available for selection.”
Vunipola believes England will improve after an autumn campaign that resulted in victory but attracted criticism on account of a relentless adherence to kicking and the failure to show their full hand in attack.
Reflecting on England’s autumn form, Vunipola says: “It was probably the best of a difficult situation. To actually be able to play those games at all was very fortunate and we spoke in camp about how unbelievably privileged we were to have that tournament organised.
“It was something special to be involved in and even though the final against France was a tough grind, it showed how hard Test rugby can be and how any team can win on their day.
“As a squad, we were pleased with the way we fought back in that game and eventually won it.
“We were playing against a French team that wasn’t widely recognised but they were all still good players in their own right. Fair play to them, they really took their chances on the day and it was lucky that we came back and managed to do enough to get the trophy at the end.”
He added: “We want to be better than we were in the autumn. We understand winning is good but people always talk about the way we play and we want to show that we’ve improved.
“It’s not just the attack, there’s a lot more we can do in all areas, but attack is the one people tend to look at the most.
“It’s difficult at the moment, though, with the way the game’s being refereed and it’s very hard to go multi-phase without being turned over at the breakdown.
“There are so many good jackallers in the European game now that it makes it difficult to keep the ball, but that’s the challenge we face and we’ll set ourselves ambitious targets.
“After a pretty good 2020, we have to go into the Six Nations with confidence and be clear about what we want to achieve, but it’s a clean slate and every team will fancy their chances.”
Closer to home, Vunipola watched on last week as Saracens took the field for the first time since October, with a 27-26 defeat at Ealing offering a stark reminder that they are now a Championship side battling to rebuild ahead of a hoped-for promotion back to the top-flight.
Losing long-serving head coach Alex Sanderson to Sale has been another blow, but Vunipola remains fully committed to the cause of restoring his club to their former greatness.
“Losing somebody of Alex’s character is a massive loss,” admits Vunipola. “Not only is he an extremely good coach, but more than that he’s a very good person who I’ve been fortunate to be coached by since I was 16 or 17 and he’s become one of my best friends in the game.
“He’s going to do amazing things at Sale, I’ve no doubt about that and I wish him all the best, but
as a club we’re also very excited about the future at Saracens. Being 30 has crept up on me because I remember being one of the younger guys, but I’d love to finish here now.
“I’m very blessed that there are so many good people still here and we’ve got a lot of younger guys in the team now who are learning. I want to see how far we can grow again and put my experience to good use, because I’m convinced this club can be successful once more.”
A fully fit and firing Vunipola would also be a huge boost for the Lions, for whom he has been a linchpin since 2013 after featuring in all six Tests during the last two successful tours of Australia and New Zealand.
Although understandably disappointed by the growing prospect of this year’s tour being unable to take place in South Africa, Vunipola believes the prospect of playing games within the British Isles will not diminish the desire of home union players to represent the jersey with pride.
“I’d love to be involved again because being on a Lions tour is the highest honour for a player in Europe,” says Vunipola. “You want to experience the tour as well and, for me, it wouldn’t be the same if they played the games here because going down south to play would be magical.
“It’s also difficult for South Africa because the Lions only come every 12 years and it would be a shame for them not to experience a tour there, but if it came to it and we did play in the UK and Ireland, the players would still get behind it and make it really enjoyable.
“No matter where you’re playing, as soon as you put the Lions jersey on you know you’re representing the four countries and it’s a huge honour. You want to do the jersey proud no matter where – every player will go out there to do their best.”