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CJ Stander was good, but Billy V was better

Billy Vunipola

Eddie Jones will be purring this week after England suddenly turned the clock back to 2016 and resumed laying waste to much touted opposition.

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The Irish certainly didn’t see it coming. Take one of their national newspapers as a barometer of the hyped mood that existed in Dublin. A dozen of their experts were asked in Saturday morning’s edition for a score prediction and all 12 plumped for Ireland.

They summarily waved the flag on the back of their team’s 2018 form rather than actually read the runes coming into the weekend’s head to head.

Amid the pomp and ceremony of a Grand Slam calendar year that culminated in a win over the All Blacks, it was neglected how England had found a revitalising pulse in November and were waiting in the long grass to execute an ambush that has shown to everybody they are back and bolder than ever under Jones.

Mako Vunipola was swamped by the Saturday night plaudits, but now that the dust has settled and sights are now trained on hosting the French in London next Sunday, the value of his brother Billy to England’s revival can’t go unnoticed.

For far too long the 26-year-old had been the major missing link in an English pack that a year ago lost its bearings and crashed to fifth place, its worst ever Six Nations finish.

How they have missed him. Last Saturday was only Billy V’s fourth start in England’s last 23 games. A succession of broken arms and shoulder surgery the kryptonite depriving his country of his invaluable powers.

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Nathan Hughes had stepped in a dozen times, with Sam Simmonds, Mark Wilson and Zach Mercer the other interim No8s, but it seemed as if they were only ever temporarily occupying the jersey before it would be handed back to its previous owner.

Jones seems to think so, recently joking that he would take care of Vunipola “like he’s the king’s baby” due to his importance to England’s twin 2019 ambitions of Six Nations and World Cup glory.

No one can forget how potent Vunipola was when coming of age in Jones’ first campaign. He made a chart-topping 93 carries for a 336-metre gain, an average 3.6 metres every involvement during that 2016 title-winning Six Nations.

Ireland’s CJ Stander wasn’t far behind him that particular spring, checking in for 87 carries. But there is subtlety in Vunipola’s play that leaves his No8 wrecking ball rivals in the shade.

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The impact of his carries is what really matters and possessing the handling skills of a magician and the powerful thrust of a runaway tank, he is often unplayable.

He certainly was that in spring 2016, beating 25 defenders and offloading eight times in the tackle to help put a pep in England’s step.

He was back at it in Dublin despite so much of the post-match kudos being heaped on Mako, his older brother by nearly two years who made 17 more tackles than the back row and carried for only a metre less.

Continue reading below…

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Sift through the evidence of Billy V’s first Test start since defeat last June to South Africa in Bloemfontein and you will realise his impact was immediate, his role in the opening try just 91 seconds in crucial in exposing the Irish defence.

He ran hard at Devin Toner in the 22 on a seventh-phase carry and while he did get tackled by Bundee Aki, he demonstrated power and agility to turn back towards his teammates, aggressively stay on his feet and majestically offload the ball one-handed with his right hand to Ben Youngs.

By rights, England should have had to forage hard for ruck ball. Instead, Vunipola’s ability to stay in the fight and stay upright offered opportunity to move the ball quickly and allow the backs put Jonny May in at the corner.

It was exquisite play and there was more to come. Review England’s second try and Vunipola will be seen initially running a support line off Manu Tuilagi in order to clean-out at the resulting ruck. He then runs a selfless decoy that grabs James Ryan’s attention, helping the ball go wide to where Elliot Daly’s kick-through caused consternation and led to a score.

Next, there was bruising evidence of Vunipola’s immense power. Conor Murray’s box-kick clearance from the Irish try line failed to find touch and the No8 didn’t need to be asked twice to run the ball back from near the 10-metre line and set up a ruck back inside the 22.

He took a dozen strides before encountering enemy contact and he should have been stopped dead on impact as his 126kg bulk was, on paper, no match for the combined 221kg weight of the double-tackling Stander and Peter O’Mahony. Vunipola, though, managed to take another 10 short, brisk steps before being grounded, momentum that highlighted the difference in physicality which existed on the night.

His opening period contribution then ended with a sumptuous one-hand, out-the-back pass to Jack Nowell after he picked at five-metre scrum. That sparked the pressure that culminated in Mako’s try being disallowed for double movement.

Come the second half his major contribution came at the 66th minute scrum which laid the platform to settle the Six Nations result irrevocably in England’s favour.

It was only a subtle intervention, but he stopped the ball in the set-piece at his left foot, a position that allowed Youngs take the ball out at the side of the scrum rather than at the back and it helped create the space that led to the kick ahead for Henry Slade’s first try.

No wonder coach Jones will be purring. If Vunipola – who signed off with 49 metres off 10 carries and 14 tackles – can make that positive a contribution while still shaking off the cobwebs of an international career stunted in recent times by multiple injuries, imagine what destruction he could be capable of if he manages to stay healthy and plays the entire campaign for England?

That’s food for thought for Louis Picamoles, the French No8 tasked with curbing the Billy V revival.

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Oh no, not him again? 2 hours ago
England internationals disagree on final play execution vs All Blacks

Okay, so we blew it big time on Saturday. So rather than repeating what most people have all ready said, what do I want to see from Borthwick going forward?


Let's keep Marcus Smith on the pitch if he's fit and playing well. I was really pleased with his goal kicking. It used to be his weakness. I feel sympathy for George Ford who hadn't kicked all match and then had a kick to win the game. You hear pundits and commentators commend kickers who have come off the bench and pulled that off. Its not easy. If Steve B continues to substitute players with no clear reason then he is going to get criticised.


On paper I thought England would beat NZ if they played to their potential and didn't show NZ too much respect. Okay, the off the ball tackles certainly stopped England scoring tries, but I would have liked to see more smashing over gainlines and less kicking for position. Yes, I also know it's the Springbok endorsed world cup double winning formula but the Kiwi defence isn't the Bok defence, is it. If you have the power to put Smith on the front foot then why muzzle him? I guess what I'm saying is back, yourself. Why give the momentum to a team like NZ? Why feed the beast? Don't give the ball to NZ. Well d'uh.


Our scrum is a long term weakness. If you are going to play Itoje then he needs an ogre next door and a decent front row. Where is our third world class lock? Where are are realible front row bench replacements? The England scrum has been flakey for a while now. It blows hot and cold. Our front five bench is not world class.


On the positive side I love our starting backrow right now. I'd like to see them stick together through to the next world cup.


Anyway, there is always another Saturday.

7 Go to comments
C
CO 2 hours ago
Scott Robertson responds to criticism over All Blacks' handling errors

Robertson is more a manager of coaches than a coach so it comes down to intent of outcomes at a high level. I like his intent, I like the fact his Allblacks are really driving the outcomes however as he's pointed out the high error rates are not test level and their control of the game is driving both wins and losses. England didn't have to play a lot of rugby, they made far fewer mistakes and were extremely unlucky not to win.


In fact the English team were very early in their season and should've been comfortably beaten by an Allblacks team that had played multiple tests together.


Razor has himself recognised that to be the best they'll have to sort out the crisis levels of mistakes that have really increased since the first two tests against England.


Early tackles were a classic example of hyper enthusiasm to not give an inch, that passion that Razor has achieved is going to be formidable once the unforced errors are eliminated.


That's his secret, he's already rebuilt the passion and that's the most important aspect, its inevitable that he'll now eradicate the unforced errors. When that happens a fellow tier one nation is going to get thrashed. I don't think it will be until 2025 though.


The Allblacks will lose both tests against Ireland and France if they play high error rates rugby like they did against England.


To get the unforced errors under control he's going to be needing to handover the number eight role to Sititi and reset expectations of what loose forwards do. Establish a clear distinction with a large, swarthy lineout jumper at six that is a feared runner and dominant tackler and a turnover specialist at seven that is abrasive in contact. He'll then need to build depth behind the three starters and ruthlessly select for that group to be peaking in 2027 in hit Australian conditions on firm, dry grounds.


It's going to help him that Savea is shifting to the worst super rugby franchise where he's going to struggle behind a beaten pack every week.


The under performing loose forward trio is the key driver of the high error rates and unacceptable turn overs due to awol link work. Sititi is looking like he's superman compared to his openside and eight.


At this late stage in the season they shouldn't be operating with just the one outstanding loose forward out of four selected for the English test. That's an abject failure but I think Robertson's sacrificing link quality on purpose to build passion amongst the junior Allblacks as they see the reverential treatment the old warhorses are receiving for their long term hard graft.


It's unfortunately losing test matches and making what should be comfortable wins into nail biters but it's early in the world cup cycle so perhaps it's a sacrifice worth making.


However if this was F1 then Sam Cane would be Riccardo and Ardie would be heading into Perez territory so the loose forwards desperately need revitalisation through a rebuild over the next season to complement the formidable tight five.

28 Go to comments
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