Billy Vunipola to be treated like ‘king’s baby’ as Eddie Jones devises plan to look after England No 8
After a third broken arm in the space of 10 months, Vunipola will be wrapped up in cotton wool in an effort to get him fit for the 2019 Rugby World Cup
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Your support makes all the difference.Billy Vunipola will be wrapped in cotton wool and looked after “like he’s the king’s baby” next year in an effort to keep him fit for the 2019 Rugby World Cup after the England No 8 suffered a third broken arm in 10 months.
The 27-year-old admitted this week that his latest injury blow, which he suffered in the European Champions Cup victory over Glasgow Warriors last Saturday, had “cut” through him as he continued to struggle with a horrendous run of luck.
The Saracens back-row has spent long spells out of the game due to shoulder and knee surgery that cost him a place in the 2017 British and Irish Lions squad and the autumn internationals that year, while he missed this year’s Six Nations due to a broken right arm that he then re-fractured on the summer tour of South Africa.
Having now broken his left arm and undergone surgery, Vunipola will not play again this year and faces a race to be match fit for the start of the Six Nations next February, but Jones will “look after” the Saracens star in the hope of seeing him through to their World Cup campaign unscathed.
“He is a Saracens player at the moment so I cannot do too much,” Jones said. “We have had a quick text conversation. He has strong beliefs and he will get through. I will let him rehab. Some guys when they are injured are good around the camp, others not so good. There is no reason to have guys around just because they are injured.
“I cannot control what he does at Sarries. I only have him for nine weeks between now and July. In that time, we will look after him like he is the king’s baby. The rest of the time it is Sarries’ responsibility and they look after their players well. We trust them to do a great job.”
The Australian named a 36-man squad on Thursday for the Quilter Internationals next months that was not only missing Vunipola, but 15 other key names that leaves him with a depleted line-up to select from.
With South Africa, New Zealand, Japan and Australia all due to visit Twickenham over the course of the next six weeks, Jones faces a make or break campaign that, if England fail to win any of their games, will leave him under considerable pressure and fighting for his job.
But he has experience of an injury crisis before. “I had it in Australia at number 10,” he recalls of his time as the Wallabies head coach. “We started the season with [Stephen] Larkham who was something different and we had [Matt] Giteau as his replacement, 21 quick and instinctive.
“They both got injured and in Australia when two fly-halves get injured you are literally looking for someone to play 10. There was no one. We had to play Mat Rogers, a rugby league player, at 10. It becomes difficult.
“You have just got to find a way and it is the same here.”
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