Steve Borthwick has backed Billy Vunipola to power up England’s World Cup campaign with his captain, Owen Farrell, insisting “going under the radar” in France can work in his side’s favour.
Vunipola has been out of action since April with a knee injury but is closing in on a much-needed return on Saturday as England seek to get their campaign back on track after a disappointing defeat by Wales last weekend.
The 30-year-old is the only specialist No 8 in the 33-man squad but is “the fittest I’ve ever seen him”, according to Borthwick, who believes England need an injection of power to boost their World Cup chances.
Vunipola is “very close” to being available to face Wales on Saturday and is set for a bumper World Cup workload with Borthwick overlooking Alex Dombrandt and Tom Willis for his squad. Insisting he was not taking a risk in not selecting a back-up specialist, however, Borthwick revealed his plan is for Vunipola to “play as much as he possibly can” in a considerable show of faith in someone he omitted throughout the Six Nations. “Billy has been fantastic in this training camp,” Borthwick said. “I’ve seen just how hard he’s worked to come back from his injury. He looks in great shape and the fittest I’ve ever seen him.
“Billy is a guy who loves playing rugby so we want him to play as much as he possibly can and I think he’s desperate to play as much as he possibly can. He looks really good. And the diligence of seeing him in this recovery from injury – it has been very impressive. He’s a very mature player now. I think he’s taken a very mature approach to his recovery, and a very determined approach to be fit for this.
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“There’s no doubt that when I’m watching games now, a huge aspect is the power game. I watch teams play and you see teams that have that power have a real advantage. What you’ve got to be able to do is combat that. You’ve got to have a pack that can combat the power of the opposition against the top teams.”
England have lost their past three matches and four of the six since Eddie Jones was sacked as head coach, dampening World Cup expectations with Borthwick refusing to say whether he believed England can win the tournament. Farrell, however, was more bullish and believes going to France with low expectations can be used to England’s advantage.
“If we go in as favourites or go in under the radar, we’ll use it to our advantage either way,” he said. “We’re working away quietly. Tournament rugby is a lot about pressure. It’s bigger than anything you usually play in and there’s a lot of outside noise. We might not have as much of that, but the big thing is controlling what’s happening in camp and not worry about the external factors which don’t really matter. We will look forward to getting the best out of ourselves either way.
“You go into World Cups and people talk about favourites and say: ‘It’s theirs to lose’ – but it doesn’t work like that. That’s not how sport works. Just look at the football World Cup when Argentina lost to Saudi Arabia.”
Borthwick confirmed his 33-man squad on Monday with Henry Slade the shock omission and the head coach revealing that Joe Marchant’s performance in the defeat by Wales was a factor in his selection. The 33 have a combined total of 1,411 caps with 16 players who were part of the 2019 squad – 14 who appeared in the final – and in Dan Cole, Ben Youngs and Courtney Lawes, England have three players attending their fourth World Cups, with Borthwick highlighting experience as a key hallmark of his squad.
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“Experience at all costs is vitally important,” the head coach said. “I think that the experience in some key positions that you’ve seen in contexts of the situation has become really important now for this tournament. I think we’re averaging 40 or so caps across the squad and as a secondary point to that you have the leadership.
“I think if you start looking throughout the team and unless I’m mistaken you’ve got people with that experience of an incredible amount of leadership, be it Ellis [Genge], Jamie [George], Billy [Vunipola], Tom Curry, and then I go through the team and then there’s Courtney Lawes, so we have a vast amount of leadership across the team.”
There is a concerning lack of experience behind Jamie George at hooker, however, with Jack Walker and Theo Dan, who made his debut off the bench in Cardiff last week, totalling just five caps between them. Luke Cowan-Dickie is sorely missed as he recovers from a neck injury with Borthwick admitting he is closely monitoring the Sale hooker, who could yet be a standby later in the tournament.
“I get regular updates around a number of players who are carrying injuries and one of them is Luke,” Borthwick said. “So I’m tracking his progress. I’ll be very clear we’d want more depth and experience in that position, but that’s the situation we have found ourselves in. That experience behind Jamie, there is a big gap.”