Rugby World Cup 2019: Mako Vunipola and Jack Nowell to miss half of England’s pool matches, says Eddie Jones

Injured duo will miss Tonga and United States games as they continue to struggle with their existing injuries, while Kyle Sinckler, Joe Launchbury and Luke Cowan-Dickie all picked up knocks in the 37-0 win over Italy

Mako Vunipola and Jack Nowell will miss at least half of England’s Rugby World Cup pool matches after Eddie Jones revealed they will not feature against either Tonga or the United States in Japan.

Vunipola has played just 17 minutes throughout England’s four warm-up matches after re-injuring the hamstring that he had surgery on last June, with the initial 10-day injury recovery now set to stretch to at least 38 if he features against Argentina on 5 October.

Similarly, Nowell has not played any rugby since the 1 June Premiership final, having damaged ankle ligaments that required an operation to repair the damage and suffering a setback along the way.

With England finalising their warm-up preparations with a comprehensive 37-0 victory over Italy in Newcastle, Jones revealed that neither will be fit to start the World Cup in two weeks’ time.

“Mako definitely won’t be ready, but we feel that he’ll be right possibly for game three or game four of the pool stage,” Jones said. “Jack Nowell the last couple of days has taken off so I’ve had to hold him back a bit. He should be right similar to Mako, and then everyone else is in full training.”

Those injury concerns were added to by Kyle Sinckler, Joe Launchbury and Luke Cowan-Dickie, who were all forced off the field during the four-try rout at St James’ Park.

Sinckler was unable to complete the team’s victory parade around the pitch as he had ice strapped to his right calf, while Launchbury suffered a knee to the back when he attempted to clearout a ruck, and both appeared to be in discomfort as they left the stadium afterwards. Cowan-Dickie meanwhile injured his knee, but Jones was optimistic that they will not prove long-term issues.

“[Sinckler] was good, we just took him off as a precaution,” Jones added. “Joe Launchbury’s got a sore back, we don’t feel that’s too serious, and Luke Cowan-Dickie took a knock to the knee but again, the first examination indicates it’s not too serious.”

More detail will be confirmed on the injured trio once England touch down in Tokyo on Monday – providing they make it as planned as a typhoon is due to hit the Japanese capital over the weekend that is set to disrupt flights to the city – but Jones was relieved that they were the only blemishes of the night.

England were not punished for their slow start, in which they only lead 9-0 at half-time having failed to muster a single try-scoring chance. But second-half scores from Ben Youngs, Joe Marchant, Ellis Genge and Anthony Watson ensured England recorded an emphatic victory.

Mako Vunipola will miss England's first two Rugby World Cup matches (Reuters)

“We looked like in the first half we were still eating pasta and pizza in Treviso,” Jones said. “So we had to get that out of our system, and in the second half I thought we were really purposeful. We made a few changes to the team that we planned to do which was another good exercise for us, just trying different combinations so I’m pleased with that.”