Mako Vunipola hits the ground running in bid to return to England ‘weak spot’ that proved a strength

England are stronger than ever before at loosehead prop that will challenge Vunipola over the next eight weeks like he never has been before

Mako Vunipola returned for Saracens with a man-of-the-match display against Cardiff (Getty)

When Mako Vunipola was ruled out of the entire autumn international campaign a month after Joe Marler’s England retirement, Eddie Jones looked to be in a spot of bother in the front-row that left his side exposed like never before. For not only were England’s leading loosehead props unavailable, but the next two cabs off the rank were missing too.

Both Ellis Genge and Beno Obano had already been ruled out of the four Quilter Internationals, but here we are nearly two months to the day that Vunipola’s calf tore itself and England have never looked so healthy in the No 1 shirt.

Of course there have been great names in the position like Jason Leonard and Andrew Sheridan, but when have England had such strength in depth?

That’s why the 52-cap Vunipola feels that the threat to his England place is just as strong, if not stronger, than ever before.

“Whenever someone gets injured it’s an opportunity for someone else,” Vunipola said. “For myself that’s how I got a chance, (Alex) Corbisiero got injured and it’s just about the individual coming in and taking that chance, and to be fair they came in, did exactly what Eddie and all of the coaches asked of them.

“I thought, being honest, Ben came in and pushed really hard so I’ve got a job to do playing well for Sarries and hopefully put my hand up for selection again.”

Luckily for the 27-year-old, he hit the ground running. Playing in his first game since tearing his calf muscle against Glasgow Warriors on 14 October, Vunipola looked like he hadn’t missed a day as he enjoyed a man-of-the-match display in the 51-25 demolition of Cardiff on Sunday afternoon.

As any player will tell you on their return from a serious injury, there are doubts in the back of the head when that first run-out finally comes along. “There are two muscles in (the calf) and I tore the soleus muscle which is the one underneath, there’s more tendon but it was lucky that it didn’t get the tendon,” Vunipola adds. “It was pretty simple, get rehab, get my strength back into it and thankfully today went alright.

“You always have that awareness of the injury but once you’re in the game and the heat of it it kind of goes out the window. There’s other stuff obviously, the scrummaging you can train all you want but it’s very hard to get game intensity so today I was very happy with the set-piece, that was probably my main focus and I was very happy to get the set-piece off to a good start, and the other thing is the physicality of the game. When you’re returning obviously you want to ease your way into it but first game back is in Europe so it’s no easy games.

“With the first shot I broke my nose, so it was downhill from there! It was good to get back into it – it is going to take a few games to get back to match fitness.”

But it will take more than another broken nose to stop Vunipola, as he quips “it was bent anyway” when asked further about it. Any doubts about whether his body was ready for rugby was answered when he spotted the Cardiff fly-half Gareth Anscombe and, with ball in hand, ran right through him.

Ben Moon is the current incumbent of the England No 1 shirt (AFP/Getty) (AFP/Getty Images)

Normally that would have been enough to see Vunipola handed his England shirt back. But with Moon now offering something slightly different than what Marler did for so long. The Exeter Chief ousted his own club-mate Alec Hepburn to start against New Zealand and Australia and given how well he stood up on the international level combined with his down-to-earth nature, Vunipola knows he has a challenge on his hands walking back into the side simply won’t do.

“That’s never the case,” he notes. “Obviously I’ve had the experience of being in the England camp but for me it’s just playing well for Sarries and doing my bit to keep improving.

“We are in a good place. We are happy with the results, but the more important thing for us is consistency. Every now and then we dip out of games, for 10 minutes we will be on it in attack or defence. When it comes to bigger games, we can’t play half a game against the best sides. That is something we need to work out, which is an exciting thing. Results are going well but we are excited at how far we can take it.”

Vunipoal tore the soleus muscle in his calf in mid-October (Getty)

This weekend that could be straight into the quarter-finals of the Champions Cup with two games to spare, which would be quite the statement. That depends on results outside of their pool, though the simple version is that they cannot guarantee their place unless the Pool 5 encounter between Toulon and Montpellier ends in a draw without bonus points. That said, a win all-but-books their place in the last eight and, with a home game against Glasgow Warriors and away trip to Lyon remaining, the very likely prospect of a home quarter-final, which sounds like all the motivation Vunipola needs to remind everyone that he is England’s No 1.