Why Mako Vunipola's place in England squad isn't safe
Mako Vunipola has been warned he must fight to reclaim his front-row spot as England face the first true test of the squad cohesion carefully constructed for their pursuit of the World Cup.
Vunipola has recovered from a hamstring injury and along with wing Jack Nowell, who has trained fully after a summer spent overcoming ankle surgery, is expected to be available for next Saturday’s clash with Argentina in Tokyo.
Their return will give Eddie Jones a fully-fit 31-man squad from which to select, although Piers Francis’ citing for a dangerous tackle against the USA could reduce that number for disciplinary reasons.
A date for Francis’ hearing has yet to be set but it will take place in Tokyo where the Northampton centre is likely to be hit with a three-week suspension, potentially ending his tournament.
As the game’s foremost loosehead prop, Vunipola would be among the first names on the team-sheet but with Joe Marler and Ellis Genge having performed well against Tonga and the USA in his absence, attack coach Scott Wisemantel insists his selection is not a forgone conclusion.
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And now that all players in the squad are competing for starts in the critical Pool C games against Argentina and France, Wisemantel knows there will be a challenge to harmony within English ranks.
“This puts a test on togetherness, but togetherness is one of our themes and the players acknowledge it, they openly talk about it,” Wisemantel said.
“It’s a team of 31. Socially they hang out and then when they’re on the field they compete and they compete hard.
“We want that competition for places so that whether they’re in the 23 or not they’re competing, they’re not just here as passengers.
Last Sunday's terrible performance by Scotland affected The Rugby Pod's Jim Hamilton badly https://t.co/UdqtGJOyZ5
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) September 27, 2019
“Mako gives us something with his ball carrying and energy around the park, but the way the boys are going, he’s going to find it hard to get back into the team selection-wise.
“Mako’s got to compete. If we’re going to be consistent with the team of 31 and the mantra of it, you have to fight to get back in.
“We know what he can do. He has kudos, a proven track record but at the same time he has got to prove that he is fully fit and ready to go.
“You just don’t walk straight back into the team, you actually have to fight to get back in. It’s good and it’s healthy competition.”
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Wisemantel has revealed that England have a mechanism for dealing with any conflicts when they arising, illustrating the process through the exchange of words between Elliot Daly and Henry Slade late on against Tonga.
An opening had been forced down the left but Slade’s final pass went behind Daly and each clearly blamed the other for the mistake.
“The players know the boundaries. When it’s on the field it’s game on and when it’s off it, if there’s an issue you’ve got to get it sorted and get it sorted quickly,” Wisemantel said.
Fans don't get why all four punished players have received the same sanction at the World Cuphttps://t.co/yRkr5wmqOI
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) September 27, 2019
“It’s that simple and the framework and the time that we’ve spent together has actually made it real because we’ve been together for a long time.
“If we’re competing and we’re competing hard and you’re not happy with what I’ve done or I’m not happy with what you’ve done, then we actually sort it out afterwards like ‘mate, don’t do that, what were you thinking?’. It’s real simple.
“There’s been a little bit. It’s good because it creates electricity. An example would be from the Tonga game.
“On the field there was a miscommunication between Henry and Elliot and then straight afterwards they sorted it. I thought it was brilliant.
“They ripped into each other, ‘I want you here, I need you here’. We’re talking wants and needs. They sorted it and they sorted it very quickly. Brilliant.”
– Press Association
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Comments on RugbyPass
late hit what late hit it wasn’t at all late and can clearly see he was committed before the tackle
1 Go to commentsChristian Lio -Willies 2 try perfomance was a standout. As was captain Scott Barrett. Up front was where the boys won it.They are a great team and players. Fantastic Crusades , you can keep going.
1 Go to commentsI don't know how the locals feel about that? I guess if you call yourselves the Worcester Wasps that might be appease. But really we need more teams in the Premiership in my view so they are not padding it out as they are at the moment. It might curtail so many players going abroad as well
4 Go to commentsNZ 😭😭😭is certainly rivaling England for best whingers cup!😭😭😭 !!!
24 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
24 Go to commentsShould've done this years ago. Change Saturday kick off times to around 11am. Up and off and back home before 3pm, limit travel time too. Allows players to actually do something else with their Saturday that's family oriented or being rugby fans they could ‘watch’ pro rugby. Increases crowds etc. How can anyone that enjoys grassroots and pro rugby have to choose between the two on Saturdays?
9 Go to commentsI bet he inspired those supporters just as much.
1 Go to commentsBen Smith Springboks living rent free in his head 😊😂
67 Go to commentsGood to hear he would like to play the game at the highest level, I hadn’t been to sure how much of a motivator that was before now. Sadly he’s probably chosen the rugby club to go to. Try not to worry about all the input about how you should play rugby Joey and just try to emulate what you do on the league field and have fun. You’ll limit your game too much (well not really because he’s a standard athlete like SBW and he’ll still have enough) if you’re trying to make sure you can recycle the ball back etc. On the other hard, you can totally just try and recycle by looking to offload any and everywhere if you’re going to ground 😋
1 Go to commentsThis just proves that theres always a stat and a metric to use to justify your abilities and your success. Ben did it last week by creating an imaginary competition and now you did the same to counter his argument and espouse a new yardstick for success. Why not just use the current one and lets say the Boks have won 4 world cups making them the most successful world cup team. Outside of the world cup the All Blacks are the most successful team winning countless rugby championships and dominating the rankings with high win percentages. Over the last 4 years statistically the Irish are the best having the highest win rate and also having positive records against every tier 1 side. The most successful Northern team in the game has been England with a world cup title and the most six nations titles in history. The AB’s are the most dominant team in history with the highest win rate and 3 world cups. Lets not try to reinvent the wheel. Just be honest about the actual stats and what each team has been good at doing and that will be enough to define their level of success.
24 Go to commentsHow is 7’s played there? I’m surprised 10 or 11 man rugby hasn’t taken off. 7 just doesn’t fit the 15s dynamics (rules n field etc) but these other versions do.
9 Go to commentsPick Swinton at your peril A liability just like JWH from the Roosters Skelton ??? went missing at RWC
14 Go to commentsLike tennis, who have a ranking system, and I believe rugby too, just measure over each period preceding a world cup event who was the longest number one and that would be it. In tennis the number one player frequently is not the grand slam winner. I love and adore the All Blacks since the days of Ian Kirkpatrick when I was a kid in SA. And still do because they are the masters of running rugby and are gentleman on and off the field - in general. And in my opinion they have been the majority of the time the best rugby team in the world.
24 Go to commentsHaving overseas possessions in 2024 is absurd. These Frenchies should have to give the New Caledonians their freedom.
21 Go to commentsBell injured his foot didn’t he? Bring Tupou in he’ll deliver when it counts. Agree mostly but I would switch in the Reds number 8 Harry Wilson for Swinton and move Rob Valentini to 6 instead. Wilson is a clever player who reads the play, you can’t outmuscle the AB’s and Springboks, if you have any chance it’s by playing clever. Same goes for Paisami, he’s a little guy who doesn’t really trouble the likes of De Allende and Jordie Barrett. I’d rather play Carter Gordon at 12 and put Michael Lynagh’s boy at 10. That way you get a BMT type goalkicker at 10 and a playmaker at 12. Anyways, just my two cents as a Bok supporter.
14 Go to commentsThanks Brett, love your articles which are alway pertinent. It’s a difficult topic trying to have a panel adjudicating consistently penalties for red card issues. Many of the mitigating reasons raised are judged subjectively, hence the different outcomes. How to take away subjective opinions?
9 Go to commentsYes Sir! Surprising, just like Fraser would also have escaped sanction if he was a few inches lower, even if it was by accident that he missed! Has there really been talk about those sanctions or is this just sensational journalism? I stopped reading, so might have missed any notations.
9 Go to commentsAI is only as good as the information put in, the nuances of the sport, what you see out the corner of the eye, how you sum up in a split second the situation, yes the AI is a tool but will not help win games, more likely contribute to a loss, Rugby Players are not robots, all AI can do if offer a solution not the solution. AI will effect many sports, help train better golfers etc.
45 Go to commentsIt couldn’t have been Ryan Crotty. He wasn’t selected in either World Cup side - they chose Money Bill instead. And Money Bill only cared about himself, and that manager he had, not the team.
28 Go to commentsYawn 🥱 nobody would give a hoot about this new trophy. End of the day we just have to beat Ireland and NZ this year then they can finally shut up 🤐
24 Go to comments