Mako Vunipola will miss the Rugby World Cup after failing to beat his back injury in time to go to France with England.
The Saracens prop had a back operation at the tail-end of last term and has not been able to recover in time to contest selection for Steve Borthwick’s 33-man World Cup squad.
England head coach Borthwick will name his full squad tomorrow at Twickenham, opting to finalise his roster early in a bid to hand his players as much clarity of purpose as possible.
Vunipola has spent the last two weeks rehabilitating with Saracens rather than staying attached to the England camp, a sign in itself that he was not all that close to fitness. Borthwick had refused to give up on the 32-year-old front-rower however, and continued to leave the door open for the Lions tourist.
Vunipola’s absence leaves Sale’s Bevan Rodd primed to head to France to complete the trio of loosehead props, alongside vice-captain Ellis Genge and Harlequin Joe Marler.
“At this stage Mako is not going to be in a fit enough state to be selected this Monday,” said Borthwick. “That’s something we are always monitoring.
“I know the 33 will be announced on Monday but we also know that through the tournament changes will happen.”
Borthwick revealed Vunipola has been able to set aside his doubtless disappointment at being denied the chance to contest World Cup selection, to throw his support behind England’s preparations.
Vunipola sent a good-luck message to the England squad ahead of yesterday’s warm-up Test match against Wales in Cardiff.
“Mako sent us a message, wishing us all the best for the game against Wales,” said Borthwick.
England slipped to a third straight defeat under Borthwick in yesterday’s dispiriting 20-9 loss to Wales in Cardiff. Borthwick’s men will now host Wales on Saturday, before taking on Ireland in Dublin and entertaining Fiji before launching their World Cup by facing Argentina in Marseille on September 9.
England’s attack again failed to fire, with pedestrian build-up play in the first-half giving way to erratic and skittish fare after the interval. It had been insisted the result would be paramount in Cardiff, despite the clear need to experiment and calibrate across these four warm-up matches.
In light of the loss however, Borthwick insisted total Test sharpness will only come in the next few weeks, especially after a punishing fitness regime in the last two months.
“The expectation is to build through these four games,” said Borthwick. “The team will get sharper. We are still in quite a heavy training phase.
“Then there will be a period where we work very much on the sharpness. By the number of opportunities created I see a step forward in our attack.”
