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'Vunipola, if we didn't know the pubs were closed you'd swear he had been in one. He was out of shape'

06 Feb 2021

(Photo by Adrian Dennis/AFP via Getty Images)

Former Scotland coach Matt Williams has accused the Saracens players on the beaten England team of not being at the races for the opening round of the Guinness Six Nations, the Australian even going as far as to claim that Billy Vunipola looked at if he had been in the pub and was out of shape.

Scotland blew the 2021 champions title race wide open with their shock 11-6 round one win over defending champions England at Twickenham, the first time the Scots have won at the HQ of English rugby since 1983.

While ex-coach Williams, who led Scotland to just one win in his ten Six Nations games in charge, stressed he didn’t want to take anything away from the merit of the shock win by his old team, he rounded on the Saracens contingent who made up one-third of the starting England team.

Jonny Wilkinson and Gregor Townsend guested on RugbyPass All Access before the Calcutta Cup clash

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Jonny Wilkinson and Gregor Townsend guested on RugbyPass All Access before the Calcutta Cup clash

Bar a Trailfinders Cup hit-out for Vunipola three weeks ago at Ealing, the Saracens players didn’t have game time of any kind since England defeated France in the Autumn Nations Cup final 62 days ago.

Williams, who was appearing as a pundit for the match on Irish TV channel Virgin Media One, believed it was a significant factor in deciding the outcome against England, in particular the effort of the sub-par Vunipola. “The Saracens players weren’t at the races,” he said. “Vunipola, if we didn’t know the pubs were closed you’d swear he had been in one. He was out of shape.

Tournament blown wide open! #SixNations2021 pic.twitter.com/jOXnmTmI7e
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) February 6, 2021

“There was no way he was ready for international rugby. Owen Farrell, one of the best players in the world, was way off the mark. Even the great (Maro) Itoje gave away a lot of penalties. But I don’t want to take anything away from Scotland, they deserve all the credit and it has smashed the tournament wide open.

“Sensational win for Scotland. They were brave. That’s the cliche, but they were smart and they did it for 80 minutes. They overcame a sin-bin. An absolute brain-snap at the end, what were they thinking of taking the drop goal? Who’d be a coach? Poor Gregor (Townsend) must need resuscitation after that.

“If they hadn’t had won, if England had scrapped that, it would have been a travesty. Scotland were just brilliant in every aspect. They outmuscled England, they outthought England, they attacked Jonny May in the air, their full-back Stuart Hogg was absolutely exceptional.

“And I said their tight five were questionable. Let me take that back, their tight five stood up and were more than a match, dominated England. The statistics out of this game are just mind-boggling.

“In the 69th-minute mark Scotland had made 104 carries, England had only made 38. England made 142 tackles, Scotland 60. There’s a 15-6 penalty count. England gave away 15 penalties. And that was the first time, the 67th minute, England got to the third phase when they had possession. If you had told me that before the game it’s 100/1 you’d believe it. It was just brilliant, a brilliant performance.

“We thought Scotland would come out for 40, 60, but they wouldn’t be able to go toe to toe with the power of England and they have proved us all wrong. Great credit to Gregor, great credit to the team.

“That young hooker (David) Cherry coming off the bench, a few years ago he was playing second division in France. The opening action he did in his international career was he smashed Maro Itoje. That shouldn’t happen but you have got to give great credit.

“The phantom, ghost stadiums, two away wins in the opening weekend so far and we hope the away team [Ireland] wins tomorrow. I wonder how long has it been since there were three away wins in the opening round of the Six Nations? We’re seeing something different.”

PLAYER RATINGS
How we rated the England players, who were flattered by the scoreline at Twickenham #ENGvSCO https://t.co/HtUedgVBwy
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) February 6, 2021

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MichaelT4 15 minutes ago

Mick Cleary: 'England are back among the heavyweights.'

In fairness to Borthwick he has done a good job of blooding youngsters already himself in matches against the top tier teams. Fin Baxter starting against New Zealand last summer, Cunningham-South too. Fin Smith this year. The squad depth is impressive when you also consider Furbank, Underhill, IFW and George Martin can come back in.

If, and its a big if, Borthwicks plan is to create 30 odd test players then he is going about it quite well. Fingers crossed.

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ZamaZama 19 minutes ago

Easterby hits back at France's conduct in the wake of Dupont injury

Once again the whining schoolboy wants to tell everyone how to behave. What a 💩

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RedWarriors 36 minutes ago

Easterby hits back at France's conduct in the wake of Dupont injury

He publicly demanded that the Irish players should be cited and declared their actions reprehensible. The obvious implication is that the referee has made grave errors and that the ‘culprits’ and ‘butchers’ of Dupont were not reprimanded. Of course he publicly stated that he didn’t blame the referee. Ofcourse his meaning was clear and the evidence is collective rage by the French public against the referee. This is dishonest and cowardice by Galthie. The two Irish players he attacked then received threats to their safety by French ‘supporters’.

We know that France have more suspensions for dangerous tackles than all other six nations combined under Galthie.

We know that he publicly lied about the ‘injustice’ of the Ntamack v Ringrose bans. He knew the difference, he acknowledged it in his evidence for Ntamack and he knew that French players had benefitted more than any others over both cases in previous years.

The last thing rugby needs is trial by media by mini Trumps who are only interested in cheating for their own country and disguising their own short comings.

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MichaelT4 47 minutes ago

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I definitely watched the game - England did stun them by winning, no one expected that. Not Englands fault that France dropped the ball - figuratively and literally - and it was England who then outscored them and out scrummed them and battered their big forwards back several times. England arent given enough credit for that win. Game of the tournament. Ireland v France wasnt a game by the second half, it was one-way.

For the Scotland game they were lucky Russell missed his kicks, but Scotland should have had a red card for the head contact from the winger on Chessum. No arms, jumped up and first contact was with the head. Evens out on the luck front.

Not sure England deserve an A that this article gives them, should be reserved for the winner, but they won their games by scoring more points. If another team had the same tournament as England, they would be lauded for their character and grit.

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JB 1 hour ago

Six Nations report card: Each team graded from A to F

Re England … “they stunned France …”

Really? Were we watching the same game? France left at least 3 tries begging, none of which were due to England’s defense - they should have been out of sight by half time.

For me, it was more France losing the game than England winning it.

France were stunned, yes, but by themselves

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TI 1 hour ago

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Hugo Keenan played well in games where Ireland didn’t. I think he should be listed as a winner instead of Beirne, or Sheehan, who were always going to go.

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Chelsey Kate 1 hour ago

Did innovative England emerge strongest from the Six Nations?

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fl 1 hour ago

Did innovative England emerge strongest from the Six Nations?

It will be interesting to see how developmental the summer squad is. Given how much consistency of selection there was throughout 2024 and the early part of 2025, I wonder if Borthwick’s suddenly erratic teamsheets were an attempt to build enough depth to play almost solely first team players against Argentina.

E.g. if Freeman and Furbank both go to Australia (which I think would be unlikely) England could still field a back three of Marcus Smith, Roebuck, and Feyi-Waboso, with Steward, Daly, Sleightholme, and Murley also in the squad. Similarly if both Curry brothers and Ben Earl all go (which I think would be similarly unlikely) England could still select Tom Willis, Underhill, and Cunningham-South in the back row. Hardly a developmental lineup! There would have to be newer and less experienced players brought in in the second row and at centre, but even here there could be starting partnerships of Martin & Coles and Dingwall & Daly.

I think there’s a good chance England’s progress will be built on directly in Argentina.

36 Go to comments

JD Kiwi 1 hour ago

Did innovative England emerge strongest from the Six Nations?

The big concern for me is that our 13 forwards are at a big disadvantage against their 15.

36 Go to comments

Otagoman II 1 hour ago

Did innovative England emerge strongest from the Six Nations?

They had an average game against a Hurricanes side that was marginally better. They were poor protecting their ball and blew many promising attacking raids. Tangitau did his best to win the game by himself with a 85 metre intercept try and a a quick tap kick ahead that resulted in another. Highlanders scored no phase play tries. Joseph said that their attack was basically too conservative playing one out and that the support should of been better. They will need to do better with their attack this saturday as the Reds have plenty of points in them with quick ball.

36 Go to comments

fl 1 hour ago

Did innovative England emerge strongest from the Six Nations?