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'I underestimated how much it made things difficult for them to be at their best'

(Photo by Dave Rogers/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

Eddie Jones has explained the rationale behind his decision not to involve Billy Vunipola in the summer series that will see England play Test matches at Twickenham next month versus the USA and Canada following this Sunday’s A team match versus Scotland A at Leicester.

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Vunipola was one of many players who looked out of sorts during the fifth-place finish by England in the recent Guinness Six Nations, a lack of form not helped by the No8 playing for a club that wasn’t in the Gallagher Premiership this term. 

While club colleagues Owen Farrell, Elliot Daly, Mako Vunipola, Jamie George and Maro Itoje, players who also suffered from inconsistent performances at Test level, were able to benefit from what Warren Gatland described as credit in the bank, there was no such leeway afforded to Vunipola when it came to Lions selection. 

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The making of England and Lions star Maro Itoje

Jim Hamilton was lucky enough to spend some time with Vitality ambassador and former teammate @maroitoje before he jets off to South Africa for the British & Irish Lions Series.
The Saracens lock told us all about how he got into rugby from his days at school and how family plays a key role in his life.

Video Spacer

The making of England and Lions star Maro Itoje

Jim Hamilton was lucky enough to spend some time with Vitality ambassador and former teammate @maroitoje before he jets off to South Africa for the British & Irish Lions Series.
The Saracens lock told us all about how he got into rugby from his days at school and how family plays a key role in his life.

Instead, the 28-year-old was omitted with Gatland opting to select Sam Simmonds, the record-breaking Exeter try-scorer even though he had last played at Test level for England in March 2018. Vunipola wrapped up his club season last Sunday by helping Saracens seal the Championship title and secure promotion back to the Premiership.

However, rather than bring Vunipola into the England fold, Jones felt it best not to involve the forward in a 36-strong squad that currently contains 23 uncapped players, albeit one of those is the injured Miles Reid whose facial bone fracture, which is still being assessed, ruled him out on Wednesday of any involvement.  

“We felt it was best to rest him,” explained Jones about England opting not to call-up Vunipola. “He needs to find the best of himself. He knows that he is another one who needs to get in the best physical condition. It’s been tough for those Sarries boys. I underestimated how much it made things difficult for them to be at their best.

“They missed a lot of training, a lot of hard games and this is the opportunity for those guys who missed out on the Lions to have a really good pre-season with their club and come back ready to challenge for an England shirt in the autumn.”

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Flankly 2 hours ago
'Absolute madness': Clive Woodward rips into Borthwick in wake of NZ loss

Borthwick is supposed to be the archetypical conservative coach, the guy that might not deliver a sparkling, high-risk attacking style, but whose teams execute the basics flawlessly. And that's OK, because it can be really hard to beat teams that are rock solid and consistent in the rugby equivalent of "blocking and tackling".


But this is why the performance against NZ is hard to defend. You can forgive a conservative, back-to-basics team for failing to score tons of tries, because teams like that make up for it with reliability in the simple things. They can defend well, apply territorial pressure, win the set piece battles, and take their scoring chances with metronomic goal kicking, maul tries and pick-and-go goal line attacks.


The reason why the English rugby administrators should be on high alert is not that the English team looked unable to score tries, but that they were repeatedly unable to close out a game by executing basic, coachable skills. Regardless of how they got to the point of being in control of their destiny, they did get to that point. All that was needed was to be world class at things that require more training than talent. But that training was apparently missing, and the finger has to point at the coach.


Borthwick has been in the job for nearly two years, a period that includes two 6N programs and an RWC campaign. So where are the solid foundations that he has been building?

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