Steve Borthwick will discover if he must rip up England’s World Cup plans on Tuesday with Billy Vunipola and Owen Farrell both facing bans that would rule them out of the start of the tournament.
Six Nations, the organisers for the warm-up fixtures, has announced Vunipola’s hearing for being sent off for a dangerous tackle against Ireland will take place on Tuesday evening.
Vunipola’s red card compounded another horror show in the dismal defeat against Ireland on Saturday, with the former fly-half Danny Cipriani declaring on Sunday that “English rugby is digging its own grave” as countless supporters lose faith in Borthwick’s side.
Vunipola was sent off for a high tackle in Dublin – seven days after Farrell’s dismissal – and both players will learn their fates at hearings this week. Farrell was cleared at his initial hearing last week but after World Rugby appealed against that decision he must return to the dock again on Tuesday.
Vunipola’s red card is arguably more disastrous for Borthwick after he was named as the only No 8 in his 33‑man World Cup squad but it is hard to think of two players upon whom the England head coach is more reliant.
Vunipola is just back from a long‑term knee injury but Borthwick had stated his intention for the No 8 to “play as much as he possibly can” in England’s warm-up campaign.
Borthwick insisted it was not a risk to omit a specialist back-up at No 8 – citing Lewis Ludlam, Ben Earl and Tom Curry as alternative options – but a lengthy ban for Vunipola could force the head coach to make changes to his World Cup squad before it is officially submitted next week, with Alex Dombrandt and Tom Willis on standby.
Vunipola was sent off via the bunker review system for a dangerous tackle on Andrew Porter and can expect an entry point ban of six weeks. He has never been suspended before, however, so can hope for a reduction, as well as a week off for attending “tackle school”.
If the red card is upheld, however, he would face a minimum ban of two weeks, ruling him out of England’s World Cup opener against Argentina on 9 September.
“He’s quite an emotional person and he’s disappointed for letting people down,” the England hooker Jamie George said of his Saracens teammate. “He’ll put a brave face on but he’s upset. He’s gutted that he got the red card.”
Farrell, meanwhile, sat out the 29-10 defeat on Saturday which leaves England’s World Cup expectations at an all-time low. Even though Farrell could have played in Dublin, that match is likely to count towards any ban but a four-week suspension would mean he misses England’s first two World Cup matches.
Borthwick insisted his side does not have a discipline problem – as well as Farrell’s red card they received three other yellow cards against Wales at Twickenham – but was once more left lamenting his side’s “clunky” attack.
The outlook is bleak with the World Cup so close on the horizon and Cipriani’s verdict was damning. “English rugby is digging its own grave, led by people that do not understand the art of the game,” he wrote on social media. “It’s steeped in tradition and heritage which is out dated and the very thing shackling the game.
“The game is coached at step 2/3, lowest common denominator. Never step one, game understanding/intelligence, spacial recognition, nuance. It is all how tough can I show to the world I am. Bravado.
“It will only ever bring a certain level of performance. Open discussions where coaches welcome new ideas that feel uncomfortable to them because it’s the only way it will grow … If you’re trained to think and not to feel you’re always going to be one step behind.”
England have just one more opportunity, against Fiji on Saturday, to deliver a performance that would generate confidence, and George admitted they need to change the mood back at Twickenham.
“We understand the importance of bringing the England fans on a journey with us,” he said. “We also understand that we haven’t been doing that for the last few years. We’ve done it in small parts but we need to start stringing stuff together to get people on their feet, behind us.
“We talk about momentums in World Cups, we weren’t able to build any [against Ireland], we’ve got Fiji next week who are a good team, a tough team, but it would be good to get a spark going, get people in their feet and get that support building because we need it.”
