Billy Vunipola has revealed how David Beckham is his closest companion at England’s Six Nations training camp with strict Covid-19 protocols preventing Eddie Jones’s squad from socialising indoors.
England convened at their footballing counterparts’ headquarters in Burton on Wednesday to begin their Six Nations preparations with the players having to eat at their own tables and unable to mix in each other’s hotel rooms as part of a series of measures designed to reduce the risk of Covid-19 transmission.
“In my room I have a photograph of David Beckham when he scored against Greece to qualify for the [2002 World Cup],” said Vunipola. “That is pretty cool. [But] it can be tough because you want to have that face-to-face connection with people.
“There are certain times when we are in our rooms and certain times when we are outside of our rooms. To be able to have our own rooms and space sometimes can be tough because you want to have that face-to-face connection with people. We are human beings. At the same time it is class having your own room but sometimes you want to talk to a guy next to you.
“It’s probably going to be a bit stricter in terms of always washing hands, wearing masks, being at lunch and sitting on your own table. [Something] we probably took for granted before was doing lineout walk-throughs. There’s now a cap on the time we can be face to face but we are very lucky to be here.”
England begin the defence of their Six Nations title against Scotland next Saturday with Vunipola claiming they have a target on their backs as champions. Despite the backdrop of empty stadiums and strict protocols, Vunipola also believes that, with places in the British & Irish Lions squad at stake – should the series against South Africa go ahead – there will be an added edge to this year’s competition.
“We’ve got a target over our heads and everyone is trying to build us up as favourites, which is fine,” he said. “We’ve got to be ready for what teams are going to bring and that’s what we’re preparing to do. I think the biggest thing is, don’t get bored of winning.
The Breakdown: sign up and get our weekly rugby union email.
“A lot of people are afraid of saying, ‘I want to go on the Lions tour’ but that’s one of my goals, throughout this Six Nations, to put myself in that shop window and show that I can perform at the highest level. Obviously the game next week is massive but everyone wants to be on that Lions tour and we’re no different. We’ve got to be ready and prepared to bulldoze teams and not just sit back.”
Vunipola has played just once since in early December – Saracens’ shock defeat by Ealing Trailfinders – but he believes he found his best form last autumn and has been working diligently to maintain that level of performance in the coming weeks. “After the autumn I thought I’d got to a level where I hadn’t been for a few years,” he said. “Me and Eddie had a good chat about it and that was the whole reason behind me going straight back into training, because I wanted to come back by starting where I left off.”