ENGLAND BOSS EDDIE Jones has been handed a World Cup worry with news that Saracens loosehead prop Mako Vunipola will be sidelined for at least three months.
28-year-old Vunipola tore his hamstring in Saracens’ Champions Cup final win over Leinster last weekend, forcing him off in the first half of the 20-10 victory in Newcastle.
Saracens say Vunipola will require surgery and that he will take “a minimum of three months to recover.”
An optimistic three-month recovery timeframe would see Vunipola return in mid-August.
England’s World Cup warm-up games begin on 11 August against Wales, meaning Vunipola will definitely miss at least the start of the four-fixture schedule that also includes another clash with Wales, as well as meetings with Ireland and Italy.
Although a three-month timeframe would mean Vunipola being fit in time for involvement in the World Cup in Japan, which kicks off for England against Tonga on 22 September, the prop’s injury is a major concern for Jones.
The head coach will be keen to have his first-choice loosehead fit and firing before the tournament gets underway, but this long-term hamstring injury looks like preventing Vunipola from getting through an ideal build-up.
Vunipola will definitely miss the Premiership run-in with Saracens, who have qualified for a home semi-final, while the club has also confirmed that tighthead prop Titi Lamositele’s season is over after he suffered an ankle injury against Leinster.
Gavan Casey, Murray Kinsella and Andy Dunne look at Ireland’s past in Super Rugby, the creative shift needed in Irish rugby and Peter O’Mahony tells us about his love of gardening:
The42 Rugby Weekly / SoundCloud
Subscribe to our new podcast, The42 Rugby Weekly, here:
