Saracens' Billy Vunipola embraces ice baths and early nights in rehabilitation before England's Six Nations defence
Vunipola’s instinctive offloads and smashing raids through multiple Wasps defenders on Saturday were immediate reminders of what his club and country have been missing
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Your support makes all the difference.The smiling face of Billy Vunipola after his storming comeback from injury in Saracens’ 38-15 win over Wasps on Sunday was a heartening sight, but the England No8 admitted his three-month lay-off had been a serious business requiring changes to his rehab and rest patterns.
Vunipola’s instinctive offloads and smashing raids through multiple Wasps defenders were immediate reminders of what his club and country – and the 2017 British & Irish Lions – had missed during the lengthy spells on the sidelines he has needed after three bouts of surgery in the past 14 months, including his latest recovery from a knee operation at the end of September.
“It taught me a huge lesson about looking after myself better in terms of recovery and sleep,” said Vunipola, who trained with England in Brighton at the start of last week and must be considered a nailed-on bet to be named by coach Eddie Jones in the squad for the Six Nations Championship on 18 January, ahead of the opening match in Italy on 4 February.
“It’s not diet – it’s the ice bath. I used to turn my nose up at having an ice bath, but I do that now. It’s only five minutes, although I get bored quite easily so I might jump out after two or three minutes – but [it’s good] as long as the intention is there.
“I’m [also] trying to be better with sleeping, to get in a good routine. Sleeping at a consistent time like normal people do – not sleep during the day then not go to bed until one or two o’clock in the morning. Whatever runs for me, I’ll try and smash it.
“If I can convince Eddie that I am in the right shape, and playing well enough to be picked in his squad, then great. Obviously I want to play for England as much as I can and I have missed it.
“But if you’re setting your goal on England, you can forget about what pushes you towards international recognition in the first place, and that is the day-to-day stuff, playing well and making sure Saracens are a dominant force, domestically and in Europe.”
Saracens have a must-win pool match in their defence of the European Champions Cup away to Ospreys this weekend, and they will travel to the Liberty Stadium on the back of three Premiership wins that have righted the mid-season wobble of five losses in the league and Europe in November and December.
Vunipola said the London club’s players had learnt they needed to “look after each other” off the field and have more fun – and the renewed spirit showed in their 13-man rearguard action at the start of the second half against Wasps, when Schalk Burger and Owen Farrell were in the sin bin.
“It was a good period of learning for us,” said Vunipola of the losing run that also included two Anglo-Welsh Cup games. “It gave us a better perspective on the bigger picture.
“It’s not always about winning. We had a few things off the field that we needed to sort out, to look after each other and things like that. When we came back out [after half-time at Wasps], there was a new energy to us and that took us over the line.
“For me, there is no point coming back and feeling your way around things. If I’m going to get injured, I’m going to get injured. It can be frustrating but there can higher powers at work.”
Vunipola is one of four Saracens stars to have surged back from injury recently, and that quartet – Vunipola, Mike Rhodes, Richard Wigglesworth and Maro Itoje – were shown in a club social-media video, leading the ‘Tiki Tiki Tonga’ celebration song in the changing room, post-match in Coventry.
“I asked to come off after 70 minutes because I was so tired,” said Vunipola. “I feel I’ll be better for it next week and hopefully if can keep doing like this, I’ll be back to where I was in no time.”
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