Billy Vunipola appears to be a gamble that has not yet paid off for England at this Rugby World Cup.
The Saracens No 8 has had to battle for fitness after a knee injury, and then had to deal with a red-card suspension too.
Now the 30-year-old is fully fit and needs match minutes to hit his top form. But England boss Steve Borthwick has selected the in-form Ben Earl ahead of Vunipola for Saturday’s World Cup clash with Samoa in Lille.
Earl fully deserves his selection to start England’s final Pool D match on Saturday, but the Red Rose side also need Vunipola at his very best.
So Vunipola’s selection for the World Cup still feels like a gamble that has not yet paid off. Anyone who wants to dress it up any differently would be hiding from the truth at this point.
He’s the only out-and-out No 8 in the squad, he was banned coming into the tournament and he hasn’t hit the level of performance that you’d want to start a game.
That definitely does not represent success yet. But it’s a massive chance for Earl, and one that’s he deserved for some time now. He’s been England’s best and most consistent back-row forward for some time.
England’s team to face Samoa on Saturday certainly points the way forward for their quarter-final selection. George Ford, Owen Farrell and Manu Tuilagi certainly works as a midfield trio.
That was the selection that pulled off one of England’s best-ever results, in the 19-7 victory over New Zealand in the semi-final at the Japan World Cup in 2019.
Borthwick’s current team harbours a lot of the other players from that era too. New Zealand were averaging four tries a game at that point and were double defending champions.
So anyone who thinks that it cannot work or it doesn’t work only has to look to that game to have that debunked. I definitely remember Ford and Farrell being around the England squad during the 2007 World Cup when we got all the way to the final in France.
Family is an important part of rugby and of any sport. I do remember Mike Ford having his family with him, it’s an important part of it.
England’s team to face Samoa certainly points the way forward for their quarter-final selection
And I was pretty close to Andy Farrell in that squad. Owen Farrell was kind enough to look after my son Enzo during the final.
And the only way my son would come onto the pitch afterwards was on Owen Farrell’s shoulders. So he was effectively babysitting. He was a big part of it all.
Whether it’s subliminal or otherwise, George Ford and Owen Farrell have been in and around pro rugby for a lot longer than most.
Whether you’re still in your mother’s tummy or growing up as a kid, you’ve only ever seen that kind of winning mindset.
So that’s one of the things that sets them apart from a lot of other people really. Their dads and them are serial winners which is why they have gone on to have the careers they have had, and they are not finished just yet.
