Billy Vunipola has insisted that England are ready for pantomime villain status in Sunday’s Rugby World Cup quarter-final against Fiji.
England know that underdogs Fiji will gain all the neutral support, and certainly that of any French punters who have tickets to the Stade Velodrome clash in Marseille.
And Saracens No 8 Vunipola admits England will quite happily take on the persona of rugby’s chief public enemies this weekend.
England-Fiji and Wales-Argentina are the two Marseille quarter-finals, whereas both France-South Africa and Ireland-New Zealand will take place in Paris.
The two Stade de France clashes have taken plenty of the spotlight, and Vunipola hinted that England are less than impressed to be painted in a different light in some quarters from the four teams fighting it out in the capital.
“I would not say Fiji are people’s second favourite team, I would say England are their least favourite team,” said Vunipola.
“In terms of being public enemy number one, we are happy to take that mantle.
“We are seeing a lot of teams being talked up. There’s a top-four in international rugby apparently.
“But I didn’t know there was a table. We are quietly going about our work and confidently going about our week.
“Our plan is to play well against Fiji firstly and then deal with whatever happens after that.”
Vunipola has also insisted that England will rise to the occasion this Sunday, expecting Steve Borthwick’s men to finally hit full stride when it matters most.
“Plain and simple if you don’t win this week, you go home,” said Vunipola.
“So there’s definitely been an edge to training. We saw that today, the way the boys carried themselves in the meeting we just had in reviewing what we saw.
“So, it’s about taking that forward, the boys can carry it on their shoulders and make sure they are ready for this game.
“There’s massive emphasis on the importance of this weekend.”
