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Mako Vunipola ruled out of Autumn Nations Cup final

By PA

05 Dec 2020

(Photo by PA)

England have suffered a setback on the eve of their Autumn Nations Cup final against France after Mako Vunipola was ruled out by an achilles problem. Vunipola sustained the injury against Wales last Saturday and has been unable to recover in time for Sunday’s Twickenham showdown.

Ellis Genge is promoted from the bench into the starting XV, with Joe Marler filling the vacancy among the replacements. Attack coach Simon Amor said: “Mako picked up an injury in last week’s game. We’ve given him every opportunity to recover for this one but unfortunately he hasn’t made it.”

Vunipola had re-established himself as England’s first-choice loosehead prop after Marler missed the start of the autumn because of a knee injury, with Genge now second in the revised pecking order for a position where England have genuine depth.

Dylan Hartley and Jamie Roberts talk Autumn Nations Cup

“It’s disappointing to lose any player. In Ellis Genge and Joe Marler, we have got two outstanding looseheads there. They’ve trained well this week,” Amor said.

“Ellis is a real bowling ball in terms of his carries, so he’ll bring that aggression with the ball. He’s a very destructive scrummager and he brings a real energy to the team. He’s a great one to bring in.”

"I have a lot more respect for them now. Put it that way"

– Joe Marler was in his element during an England podcast appearance this week with fellow front-rower Mako Vunipola #ENGvFRA #AutumnNationsCup https://t.co/Y1aVe483rV

— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) December 5, 2020

ENGLAND (revised vs France, Sunday)
15. Elliot Daly (Saracens, 46 caps)
14. Anthony Watson (Bath Rugby, 45 caps)
13. Henry Slade (Exeter Chiefs, 33 caps)
12. Owen Farrell (C) (Saracens, 87 caps)
11. Jonny May (Gloucester Rugby, 60 caps)
10. George Ford (Leicester Tigers, 71 caps)
9. Ben Youngs (Leicester Tigers, 103 caps)
1. Ellis Genge (Leicester Tigers, 22 caps)
2. Jamie George (Saracens, 53 caps)
3. Kyle Sinckler (Bristol Bears, 39 caps)
4. Maro Itoje (Saracens, 42 caps)
5. Joe Launchbury (Wasps, 68 caps)
6. Tom Curry (Sale Sharks, 27 caps)
7. Sam Underhill (Bath Rugby, 21 caps)
8. Billy Vunipola (Saracens, 55 caps)

FINISHERS
16. Luke Cowan-Dickie (Exeter Chiefs, 25 caps)
17. Joe Marler (Harlequins, 71 caps)
18. Will Stuart (Bath Rugby, 7 caps)
19. Jonny Hill (Exeter Chiefs, 3 caps)
20. Ben Earl (Bristol Bears, 7 caps)
21. Dan Robson (Wasps, 6 caps)
22. Max Malins (Bristol Bears, 2 caps)
23. Joe Marchant (Harlequins, 4 caps)

"I would still be unbelievably keen to get involved in some part"

– Ex-England lock George Kruis on life in Japan and why he hasn't entirely abandoned his 2021 Lions selection hopes#ENGvFRA #AutumnNationsCup https://t.co/vmP1jlCBBv

— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) December 5, 2020

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Comments on RugbyPass

johnz 20 minutes ago

All Blacks talk late-game adjustments after clutch England win

I guess the other option would be to start ALB, he's looked good in the 12 so far when he starts and sets up those outside him. But that would mean putting the vice captain on the bench, which is unlikely. Another option would be to drop Reiko to the bench and play Proctor, though he's gone home so that's not going to happen either.

Both of those players just offer more of the soft distribution skills good centres learn from playing their careers there. Unfortunately that's what's lacking with the current combo.

11 Go to comments

ColinK 20 minutes ago

Are the All Blacks doomed to a 70% flatline?

Whatever let's see if this load of waffle is still valid in 2 years time. ABs will rise we have a lot of new talent coming through. The NPC was the highest standard for years. The game is changing to suit the fast pace we like to play. We get to play the Springboks more, including the franchises, which will make us better! Overall I am optimistic. I will add having watched the England game multiple times we made most of the play. England are an awesome physical team, but you can expect the All Blacks to get better and better at executing the chances. It could easily have been 5 tries to one instead of 3 to 1.

1 Go to comments

johnz 28 minutes ago

All Blacks talk late-game adjustments after clutch England win

Ratima did look rattled, compared to Roigard who looked like a boss when he came on. But that's been Roigard in test rugby so far. Ratima is only really starting because of Roigard's injury, otherwise surely Roigard was the incumbent. So it's not just one outing of the pine, that just points to Roigard being ready to have a start. As good as Ratima has been, Roigard just offers more.

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GL 1 hour ago

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Cody Taylor is a more significant loss than BB, not even close!

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JD 1 hour ago

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Won't see a player like him nor, hopefully, an arsehole like him either. Odious kant.

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CO 1 hour ago

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I agree largely and I rate McKenzie as a wonderful utility at his best but now at twenty nine I wouldn't take him to the next world cup. I've never seen him as a a ten or a starter either at top tier test level. The bench needs a serious rethink with ideally a hybrid halfback/wing or a hybrid halfback/ten or a hybrid ten/centre to release that need for two relatively small guys on the bench.

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RW 1 hour ago

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CO 1 hour ago

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Unbelievable, the penalty count was so lopsided in last week's first half I'm certain the conspiracy theorists have already had a field day.

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JWH 1 hour ago

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Good idea, but to move a lock to 6 now with no previous experience save Scott Barrett (who is still our best lock) ahead of the 2nd best equal team in the world may cause more harm than good in terms of confidence, in both caoches and players.

Re lineout options, the ABs have the most innovative lineout in the world, with FOUR lineout options (Barrett, Vaai, Sititi, Savea), compared to Irelands maybe 2 (Beirne and Ryan). ABs will absolutely cause issues at the lineout, and definitely at scrum time. Those Irish props eat to much salad compared to our boys 💪

25 Go to comments

JWH 2 hours ago

Scott Robertson responds to criticism over All Blacks' handling errors

I never said boring was bad, but it doesn't necessarily go hand in hand with the ABs style. The ABs 10 looks like this: a little magic, good offloads, tactical precision kicking, draw and pass, and a cool head to level it off.

A game manager isn't exactly necessary, as the ABs should all know what they are doing, and the 9 should be directing the forwards. However, considering the youth of our best 9s currently, a more vocal, directive, and logical player like Harry Plummer would make more sense than someone like DMac, who is in his own right a good 10, but tends to sit in wider channels where he can threaten the line more directly, so has less influence on the postioning of the narrower forwards.

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Kia koe 2 hours ago

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Yep yep I agree

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Icefarrow 2 hours ago

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B-but all the armchair critics tell me he's useless and does little for the team but get penalised... This simply cannot be!

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Thomas K 2 hours ago

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So you think you’d definitely have scored way more tries if it wasn’t for all the off the ball shots? 🤣🤣