The England prop Mako Vunipola has announced his retirement from international rugby three weeks out from the start of the Six Nations with Steve Borthwick already facing severely depleted options on the loosehead side of the front row.
The Saracens forward, who has won 79 caps for England and played nine times for the British and Irish Lions, will continue to play club rugby but said “the time has come to step away” from the international setup on Friday.
“It’s been an honour to represent my country but all good things must come to an end,” the 32-year-old said. “The time has come to step away now. There have been lots of highs and lows. Would love to thank everyone who has helped me along the way.”
Vunipola is currently suspended for four weeks after receiving a red card for a dangerous tackle against Newcastle on 30 December and missed the Rugby World Cup in France after failing to recover from a back injury in time for selection. Fellow loosehead props Joe Marler, Bevan Rodd and Val Rapava-Ruskin are also on the sidelines due to injury but there was more encouraging news for Borthwick before the England head coach announces his Six Nations squad next week in the form of a positive update from Bristol on the fitness of Ellis Genge.
Bristol’s head coach, Pat Lam, said Genge, a contender for the England captaincy, could potentially return before the Six Nations begins on 2 February, having not played since early December due to a hamstring injury.
“Ellis has a chance of starting the Six Nations. He is right on track,” Lam said. “He has started running and will probably join us in training next week. He looks bigger as well, and one thing you can do when you are injured is get bigger, stronger, faster and more powerful.”
The former captain Will Carling, meanwhile, claimed earlier on Friday that representing England is no longer the “pinnacle” for players and suggested that there is more to Owen Farrell’s decision to make himself unavailable than social media abuse.
In a stinging criticism of the national setup, Carling expressed his concerns at younger players seeking to move abroad and rule themselves out of contention for England and believes that representing the national side does not hold as much sway as it did during his career.
Farrell made himself unavailable for the Six Nations last month, citing the need to prioritise his and his family’s mental wellbeing. He has since been strongly linked with a move to Racing 92 at the end of the season which would continue his England hiatus.
Carling, who worked closely with Farrell in a leadership capacity when Eddie Jones was in charge of England, told the BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “It’s incredibly sad, isn’t it? And I think from a rugby supporter’s point of view and [as] an England fan, which I am, you look at a guy who has been incredibly passionate, he’s competitive and has always been very incredibly proud to play for England.
“Although there’s part of me that thinks that maybe there’s a little bit more to it than just social media. For a man of his strength, mentally and physically, to walk away from England, there’s still something else that sticks in the back of my mind.”
Asked to elaborate, Carling added: “I can’t but I think there’s a range of issues. It’s not just him, is it? There are some younger players who have walked away from England to France. The lure of playing for England for me was always incredible, so you’ve got to ask some serious questions, and I think people need to in the right positions, of why people are walking away from playing for their country. Playing for your country needs to still be the pinnacle and therefore it needs to be something that players love doing and want to get back to doing and, let’s be honest, that’s obviously not the case at the moment.”
While Farrell’s England future remains in the balance, of the rest of England’s World Cup squad, Henry Arundell, Joe Marchant, David Ribbans and Jack Willis are all unavailable for the Six Nations having made the move to France. “We have got to make the English game the pinnacle,” said Carling. “We should be having a game here that is attracting the best talent – English and foreign – and I think that therefore we need to look at the running of the game.
“Let’s be honest – it hasn’t been good for a long, long period of time. It’s allowed the game to fall into the situation that it is now. We need to turn our mindset around and think: ‘We need to build a game which inspires youngsters.’”
Another departure came in the form of Scotland’s chief executive Mark Dodson, who announced on Friday that he would step down in the summer. Dodson, whose contract was due to run until 2025, however, denied his exit was prompted by external pressure due to the Scottish Rugby Union’s handling of the death of women’s Test player Siobhan Cattigan.
Dodson’s announcement comes two months after the governing body apologised – via a statement from recently-appointed chair John McGuigan – for the way it dealt with the death of 26-year-old Cattigan in November 2021.
Cattigan’s family said undetected rugby-related brain damage caused a significant decline in her health, while they also criticised Scottish Rugby for its failure to inform some of her teammates of the family’s wishes that they attend her funeral and also for not attempting to pay tribute to her at an international match until almost 18 months after her death.
Dodson said: “There is no connection. It is an upsetting affair and it’s been a difficult time for everybody, but it had no bearing on my decision.”
The 63-year-old – who has polarised opinion throughout his 13-year reign – added: “Several factors were in play to influence my decision. When we got back from the World Cup, I thought long and hard with the family and we believed it was only right that the next World Cup cycle be given to someone who is actually going to see it through.”
