'Family can be a distraction. Tickets, giving you pointers on how to play rugby... my auntie is always great for that'
Billy Vunipola is trying to limit family distractions as he and brother Mako prepare for the biggest game of their lives.
The Vunipola brothers have been at the heart of the England pack that has blasted its way into a first World Cup final appearance since 2007, picking off southern hemisphere rivals Argentina, Australia and now dethroned champions New Zealand after early tournament feelers versus Tonga and USA.
However, the more serious the fixtures have become, the more the interest from their family and with tickets at a premium for next Saturday’s final in Yokohama, Billy Vunipola is trying to not lose focus in any way on the bottom line of producing a performance.
“Those things are out of our control,” he said about the demand from family for match tickets. “I’ve got a massive family so I’m dealing with it first hand, but our focus is on the final and how we can best challenge South Africa and win the game.
“Family is quite a broad statement. I’m not sure. Like I said two weeks ago, my brother deals with it. I feel sorry for him sometimes. He is the admin point so if you want tickets just ask my brother. They [family] are massive but they can be a distraction as well. Tickets, giving you pointers on how to play rugby… my auntie is always great for that.
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“She’s trying to tell me how to play No8 and giving my brother a few pointers as well. Their support is very important to us but things can also be a distraction. Like I said, we’re trying to lock in on Saturday and see how we can come out firing.”
In light of the bruising, brutal way South Africa ground out their narrow semi-final win over Wales on Sunday, there has been much talk about the physicality of the Springboks. Vunipola, though, doesn’t believe they are any more physically imposing than New Zealand.
“Is that a trick question? The All Blacks have been the best in the world forever and that physicality has helped them get to that stage. We set out wanting to be the best in the world, and we have to back up what we did last week. It can’t just be a fluke.
No sign of Nigel Owens anywhere!https://t.co/yljYDhMEfS #RWCFinal #RWC2019
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) October 29, 2019
“The challenge has been laid out by South Africa – as you saw them taking Japan apart, and Wales, the challenge is going to be up front so we are going to have to be there, both mentally and physically.”
As captain, Owen Farrell will join Martin Johnson’s exclusive club of one if he leads England to victory next weekend and emulates the achievement of 2003, the only other time the Red Rose has tasted World Cup glory.
Farrell is regularly viewed from the outside as a divisive figure, but Vunipola has no issue whatsoever with the captaincy style of his Saracens and England team-mate.
'I go into schools a lot and those kids need to be able to look up and identify with it. Rugby union has sort of a middle class (appeal)'
– @LandRoverRugby ambassador @Jason15Robinson on @EnglandRugby, @rugbyworldcup and finding the next generationhttps://t.co/b8pYYQF1er— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) October 12, 2019
“With Owen the biggest thing is the calmness he’s brought into his game. You can probably hear him shouting on the ref mic all the time, but when there’s a break in play he’s a different guy. He’s a very calming influence on everyone around him.
“But we also trust him to go to the refs and we leave him with that, but in terms of leaders around him they’ve also been great. Everyone else just goes about their job and we try to be brutal and fly into whatever needs to be flown into.”
WATCH: Former England international Neil Back sits down with RugbyPass to reflect on his country’s 2003 World Cup final victory
Comments on RugbyPass
We’re building a bridge but can't agree where the river is.
2 Go to commentsfirst no arms shoulder or helmet tackle into his rib cage is going to be so very painful even to watch. go back to RU mate.
1 Go to commentsBulls by 5. Plus another 50.
3 Go to commentsJohan Goosen avatar. Cute. Surely someone at RP knows how to do a google image search?
3 Go to commentsCan’t these games play a little earlier? Asking for a friend.
3 Go to commentsIt’s impressive that we can see huge stadiums with attendance in the 40 000 to 50 000 region. It shows how popular this competition is becoming. What is even more impressive is the massive growth in broadcast viewership. The URC is one of the two best leagues in the World, the other being the Top14.
7 Go to commentsChristie is not Sottish, like the majority of the Scotland team.
2 Go to commentsHold the phone, decline over-rated. Is it a one game, dead cat bounce or the real thing? Has the Penney dropped? Stay tuned.
45 Go to commentsTotally deserved win for the Crusaders Far smarter than the Chiefs who seem to be avoiding the basics when it matters Hotham showed them what was missing and Hannah seems a real find - a tad light but that can be fixed over time
8 Go to commentsGreat insight into the performance culture with Sarries and I predict Christie will be a fixture in the Scotland team now for some time to come. However, he is slightly missing his own point around Scotland “being soft” when he cites physicality examples in defence of that slight. The issue is much closer to the example he referenced around feeling off before a game but being told “it doesn’t matter, you can still play well” by Farrell. Until Scotland can get their psyche in that square, they will carry on folding under extreme pressure…
2 Go to comments> We are having to adapt, evolve and innovate more than when we were in Super Rugby where there was only really one style that everybody had to play to gain the most success. Have = able to? Interesting what that one style might be? I thought SA sides still had bad tours now, or at least bad schedule, months away? Those extra few hours flights have to be a killer though, no surprise to see their sides doing so badly at the start of the season each year. I wouldn’t enjoy that unfairness as a supporter.
7 Go to commentsThe problem for NZ, and Aus, is they ripped up the SR model and lost a massive chunk of revenue that hasn’t been replaced. Don’t forget SA clubs went North because they were left with no choice, Argy unceremoniously binned and Japan cast adrift. Now SR wasn’t perfect, far from it, but they’ve jumped into something without an effective plan, so far, to replace what they’ve lost. The biggest revenue potential now lies in Japan but it won’t be easy or quick to unlock, they are incredibly insular in culture as a nation. In the meantime, there is a serious time bomb sitting under SH rugby and if it happens then the current financial challenges will look like a picnic. IF the Boks follow their provincial teams and head north then it’s revenue meltdown. Not guaranteed to happen but the status quo is a very odd hybrid, with the Boks pointing one way and the clubs pointing the other way. And for as long as that remains then the threat is real.
45 Go to commentsI think Etene has had some good tuition, likely while at the Warriors to be a professional that helped his rugby jump, but he was certainly thrown in the deep end way too early. Should have arguably 20 less SR caps, and therefor a way better record that he does at his age, but his development would have been fast tracked by the need to satiate his signing away from league. Again, credit to him and others that he has done it so well. Easy to fall over under that pressure in the big leagues like that but he kept at it when I myself wasn’t sure he was good enough.
1 Go to commentsAwesome story. I wonder what a bigger American (SA) scene might have mean for Brex.
1 Go to comments“Johnny McNicholl and the Crusaders” save a Penney. Who has been in camp this week and showed them how to play?
8 Go to commentsSo, reports of the Crusaders’ demise / terminal decline are perhaps just - slightly - premature/exaggerated…? 🤔 Will we see a deep-dive into that by the estimable Rugbypass scribes, and maybe one or two mea culpas? Thought not.
8 Go to comments1. The Chiefs are rudderless without DMac, which enhances his AB chances 2. Chiefs pack are powderpuffs. The hard men arent there anymore 3. They had their golden title chance last yr and wont threaten this yr. Gone in second round of playoffs.
8 Go to commentsHonestly, why did you have to publish such a foolish article the day they play us? 😂
45 Go to comments> They are not standalone entities. They are linked to an amateur association which holds the FFR licence that allows the professional side to compete in the league. That’s a great rule. This looks like the chicken or egg professional scenario. How long is it going to be before the club can break even (if that is even a thing in French rugby)? If the locals aren’t into well it would be good to se them drop to amateur level (is it that far?). Hope they can reset from this level and be more practical, there will be a time when they can rebuild (if France has there setup right).
1 Go to commentsWhat about changing the ball? To something heavier and more pointed that bounces unpredictably. Not this almost round football used these days.
35 Go to comments