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'I was seriously ill and battling for my life. At times I felt like just stopping'

By Chris Jones
Schalk Burger and Billy Vunipola

Billy Vunipola has been told to put a nightmare year that has seen him break his arm three times behind him and regain confidence in his body to ensure he will be a major force for double chasing Saracens and England at next year’s Rugby World Cup in Japan.

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The Saracens No.8, who is set to return against Worcester on Saturday, suffered a third break – this time to his left arm – in 2018 during October’s Champions Cup win at Glasgow having previously broken his right arm in January and again in June. Vunipola missed England’s Six Nations campaign and the November clashes against South Africa, New Zealand, Japan and Australia.

During his time out of the game, Vunipola, 26, has received support from fellow players and the highly skilled medical and strength and conditioning teams at Saracens.

One of the most important voices has been World Cup winner Schalk Burger, in his final season with the club, who is acutely aware of the physical and mental toll injury setbacks can have following his own personal experiences. He has warned Vunipola it is key to get the confidence back in your body to believe it can take big hits and not break down again.

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Burger, who won 86 caps for South Africa, was so ill in 2013 from bacterial meningitis after having a cyst close to his spinal cord removed that his family were advised to prepare for the worst. He pulled through and said: “I was seriously ill and battling for my life. At times I felt like just stopping, but I could literally feel myself then slipping and would have to fight again.” In 2006 Burger had suffered a serious neck injury which required cervical fusion surgery and his style of rugby has left him nursing numerous injuries.

With Billy, the younger of the Vunipola brothers, dealing with those repeated injury set-backs, Burger has been offering his experience in one-to-one conversations during the periods of rehabilitation that the 36 times capped England No8 has been forced to undertake to regain full fitness.

Burger said: “We just want Billy to have a good run of rugby because it is tough to mentally go through this kind of bad run of injuries. However, in most cases this kind of run blows by, even though at the time it feels like it is never going to end. Billy wants to get playing again particularly with the World Cup in Japan next year, but first and foremost for Saracens.

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“I have a great relationship with Billy and like me he is quite a relaxed character and we sit and have a coffee. I sympathise with him a hell of a lot because I had a bad run of injuries during my career and he is going through one of those at the moment.

“One of the biggest things about a recurring injury which puts you out for a long time is that it takes time to get confidence back in your body. There is nothing wrong mentally and Billy is raring to go again, but he will have taken a bit of a knock confidence wise in terms of your body.

“He has suffered some freakish injuries, breaking both of his arms – one twice – added to the big shoulder operation and the knee surgery that he has also had since I have been here.

“Obviously, he is one of those players you want fit and playing. Unfortunately, in rugby you cannot wrap anyone up in cotton wool and at some time you have to get back out there and play rugby and we are all looking forward to getting him back because he is one the nicest guys I have ever met.”

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Bull Shark 2 hours ago
Jake White: Are modern rugby players actually better?

Of the rugby I’ve born witness to in my lifetime - 1990 to date - I recognize great players throughout those years. But I have no doubt the game and the players are on average better today. So I doubt going back further is going to prove me wrong. The technical components of the game, set pieces, scrums, kicks, kicks at goal. And in general tactics employed are far more efficient, accurate and polished. Professional athletes that have invested countless hours on being accurate. There is one nation though that may be fairly competitive in any era - and that for me is the all blacks. And New Zealand players in general. NZ produces startling athletes who have fantastic ball skills. And then the odd phenomenon like Brooke. Lomu. Mcaw. Carter. Better than comparing players and teams across eras - I’ve often had this thought - that it would be very interesting to have a version of the game that is closer to its original form. What would the game look like today if the rules were rolled back. Not rules that promote safety obviously - but rules like: - a try being worth 1 point and conversion 2 points. Hence the term “try”. Earning a try at goals. Would we see more attacking play? - no lifting in the lineouts. - rucks and break down laws in general. They looked like wrestling matches in bygone eras. I wonder what a game applying 1995 rules would look like with modern players. It may be a daft exercise, but it would make for an interesting spectacle celebrating “purer” forms of the game that roll back the rules dramatically by a few versions. Would we come to learn that some of the rules/combinations of the rules we see today have actually made the game less attractive? I’d love to see an exhibition match like that.

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