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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Sport
Gerard Meagher

‘They’ll go after him’: Vunipola warns Tuilagi of Samoa special attention

England's Billy Vunipola in action against Chile
Billy Vunipola hopes to make his mark when England face Samoa. Photograph: Stéphanie Lecocq/Reuters

Manu Tuilagi can expect a target on his back, his front and just about everywhere else when England complete their pool stage campaign against Samoa a week on Saturday. Tuilagi is held in the highest regard in the country of his birth, having moved to the UK as a teenager, but as Billy Vunipola explains, it just comes with the territory when locking horns with the nation of your heritage.

He speaks from experience. Four years ago in Japan, Vunipola was on the receiving end of a thunderous tackle from Zane Kapeli and was dumped on his backside. The celebrations on the Tonga bench were rapturous and, though it is not born out of malice, Vunipola is expecting similar treatment in the coming weeks with England also on a collision course with Fiji in the quarter-finals.

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