'I said as a joke if we don't turn up, we're going home, but it shocked a few of the boys'
Billy Vunipola has stunned his England team-mates out of “fairyland” by declaring their World Cup could be over on Saturday. Eddie Jones’ men face Australia at Oita Stadium knowing their quest to lift the Webb Ellis Trophy will be in tatters along with the Twickenham future of their head coach if they slump to a first defeat by the Wallabies since 2015.
Jones has staked the success of his entire regime on England’s performance at the World Cup, while it would be Michael Cheika’s final match at the Australian helm if his underdogs were to lose the quarter-final. Four years of build-up to Japan 2019 hurtles towards a win or bust clash – a point rammed home with brutal honesty by Vunipola.
“Wednesday is our biggest training day and I said as a remark just to check the boys: ‘Lads, this could be our last session’,” Vunipola said. “I had a few stares from the lads and they just all laughed it off, but I was like, ‘I’m being serious. If we don’t turn up, we’re going home.’ I said it as a joke but it shocked a few of the boys.
“It is always nice to remind yourself. You don’t want to live in fairyland because you get to Sunday and it’s done and that’s when the excuses come up. But if you just take it head-on… we have talked about it already and made sure we know what the consequences are. We also know that if we can keep playing the way we have but just that little bit better, we will be in a good place.”
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Billy is to be reunited in England’s pack alongside older brother Mako for the first time since the Six Nations victory over France in February. Mako will be making his maiden start since May 11 after a hamstring injury interrupted his year, preventing him from making his comeback until the bonus-point victory over Argentina.
“It definitely is a thing playing with Mako. Subconsciously it’s not something we think about, but having my brother there gives me that time,” Vunipola said. “He obviously takes away tension because he is as much of a threat. We’ve got the Kyle Sincklers and the Jamie Georges, but Mako gives me space and timings in the next carry.
“He takes a lot of pressure off me because he’s the older brother, so anything that comes towards the Vunipolas he usually takes the brunt of it and I’m always in the back just kicking back as younger brothers do. I enjoy having him around, he’s a bit like my shield. That’s what big brothers do. I thoroughly enjoy playing with him and I’m happy to see him back in the team.
'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
“We have a funny relationship. Deep down we really love each other but he never says it to me. I always say it to him but he gets embarrassed and runs away! There is definitely that love and respect. We just do our own jobs. We don’t have to hang around and tell each other every day or every other minute how much we care for each other, it’s just there.”
Billy Vunipola at his best is an unstoppable ball carrier, but by his own admission the Saracens number eight – the only player to start all 12 of England’s games this year – has yet to hit full throttle in Japan. “I’m not being given as much time and space as I was used to. In the warm-up games, teams were watching and I became a big target against Tonga,” he said.
England vs Australia #RWC2019 #ENGvsAUS pic.twitter.com/xz086iXRUC
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) October 17, 2019
“It was about trying to change where I turn up, whether it was off nine, 10 or 13. It’s about doing whatever I can to help the team, whether that’s more depth off nine or 10 or just trucking it instead of trying to use footwork. I went from using no footwork to using a lot of footwork and now I think I need to go back.
“Hopefully, that’ll create space for me to use footwork later on. At the moment I’m not doing any tough carries, doing the hard yards which I probably haven’t been doing. I have been happy with where I’m at. My job is to help the team and I feel like I have done that over the last three weeks.”
– Press Association
WATCH: Jim Hamilton makes his predictions for all four World Cup quarter-finals in the latest episode of Don’t Mess With Jim
Comments on RugbyPass
Big empty stadium does nothing for atmosphere but munster are playing well with solid performance
1 Go to commentsYes, Fiji can win the World Cup! With that belief plus their christian faith🙏 and hard work it is achievable. Great article. Ian Duncan Fiji resident 1981-84
2 Go to commentsInteresting comments about Touch. England’s hosting the Touch World Cup this year and the numbers have exploded since their last World Cup in 2019, something like 70% more teams and 40 nations taking part. And England Touch have made a big thing about how many universities are in their BUCS University Touch Championship as well as Sport England membership. Can only see this growing even more domestically as more people become aware of it
10 Go to comments“Cortez Ratima is light years ahead of anyone on current form, while TJ Perenara has also skyrocketed into contention following the unfortunate injury to the talented Cam Roigard.” At last some sanity. Hitherto so many pundits have been wittering on about Finlay Christie to the point one wondered if they were observing a FC in a parallel universe where the FC they saw wasnt just the mediocre Shayne Philpott project of Fosters hapless AB reign in the real world. Ratima, Perenara and Fakatava are the ONLY logical 9s for Razor now Roigard is crocked.
2 Go to commentsThis game was just as painful as the Hurricanes game. It was real fork-in-the-eye stuff.
2 Go to commentsNow if they could just fire the Crusaders ground PA guy who likes to play his dance music and just loves the sound of his own voice the entire game, even when play is going on. And I thought their brass band thing of a few years ago was bad.
5 Go to commentsUnfortunately when you lose by far the two form players this season in Roigard and Aumua, you're left replacing two game changing Tanks with a couple of pea-shooters. Which is also about the speed of TJs pass.
2 Go to commentsBit rich coming from the guy with zero loyalty to anyone or any team, including happily taking a players place in a league world cup squad because well, SBW wanted to play in it and thus an already named player got told he was no longer going. And airing stuff like this, which may or may not be true, doesn't exactly say you're a stand up guy either SBW. Just looking to keep his name in lights as usual.
38 Go to commentsTamati Tua. …the Taniwha NPC midfielder. Ollie Sapsford, Hawkes Bay NPC midfielder…doing well
2 Go to commentsFiji deserve to be in the rugby championship, fans love seeing the Fijian national team play, the Fijian Drua is a wonderful idea but the players can still be stolen to play for NZ and AUS…
2 Go to commentsThe first concern for this afternoon are wheather forecast…
1 Go to commentsWhy cant I watch Rugby games please?
1 Go to commentsBeautiful shot from Finau, end of story. Gutted for Shaun Stevenson though.
4 Go to commentsThe Chiefs definitely didn’t win ugly. They had the superior scrum, a dominant lineout, and their defence was excellent once the Waratahs scored their two tries (thanks to some lucky refereeing calls mind you). They put pressure on the Waratahs lineout throughout the game, and the mind boggles as to why the referee did not award a yellow card or a penalty try against the Waratahs for repeated scrum infringements on their own try line before Narawa’s first try. And the Chiefs were slick with their passing and running angles on attack. It was a dominant performance all round, even with many questionable refereeing decisions.
1 Go to commentsWasnt late. Ref 2 assistants andTMO all saw it so who are you to say it was?
4 Go to commentsAre the Brumbies playing the Blues twice in a row?
4 Go to commentsBig difference from the Saders. Forwards really muscled up and laid a solid platform. Scooter brought some steel and I liked the loosie combination. Newell has been rather disappointing this season but stepped up big time - happy also to see Franks dot down. He should do that more often! Reihana had a good game and there seems to be more flair and invention with him in the saddle. McNicoll plays well from the back and is reliable plus inventive when he joins the line. Keep it up chaps!
5 Go to comments🤦♂️🤣 who cares who’s the best . All I know is the All Blacks have the star coach but have few star players now …
34 Go to commentsJe suis sûr que Farrell est impatient de jouer avec Lopez et Machenaud et d’être entraîné par Collazo… 🤭
1 Go to commentsAn on field red (aka a full red) in SRP must surely carry a bigger suspension than a red card given by the bunker as that carries a 20 minute team punishment. Had Damon Murphy abdicated his responsibility as a ref and issued both Drua players a yellow, which would have been upgraded to a 20 minute red by the bunker, that would have killed Australia and New Zealand’s push for the 20 minute red to be trialled globally from July this year.
11 Go to comments