James Haskell feels the door could be open for an international recall for his former England teammate Billy Vunipola.
After spending most of last season out of Eddie Jones’s plans, Vunipola was recalled for the summer tour of Australia and was a standout performer against the Wallabies in England’s series win.
A difficult autumn campaign followed, however, and Vunipola was the high-profile omission from Borthwick‘s first Six Nations campaign as head coach.
Alex Dombrandt, below, has been the preferred No.8 option since but endured an underwhelming tournament, struggling to impose himself in a back row that looked lightweight, particularly in the humiliating record defeat by France.
Dombrandt and Vunipola faced off at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium last weekend and it was the latter who excelled, outshining his opposite number in Saracens’ 36-24 win over Harlequins.
Haskell, who played alongside 30-year-old Vunipola in England’s back row from 2013 to 2019, backs the 64-time capped Saracens star to be involved in Borthwick’s World Cup plans.
He said: “I don’t think Billy’s ever going to be in his twilight years. Eddie (Jones) left him out as a bit of a wake-up call but because he’d been selecting him and Mako (Vunipola) for so long, it was probably a bit of a mind game and partly to do with form but Billy came back and did very well.
“Billy Vunipola is never not going to be a destructive player, I think we’ll see him play for England again. We have to make sure we give players opportunities as you don’t become a bad player overnight.”
Rumours have been circulating that this season may be Vunipola’s last at Saracens with a move to France on the horizon, therefore Haskell feels the Australian-born 6 ft 2 in, 20 stone+ wrecking ball will be determined to go out on a high if it is his final campaign for his current club and country.
He added: “There are so many choices, so I don’t know if Billy will get recalled just yet but I’d never rule him out. He’s tearing up trees with Saracens. Sometimes being dropped and left out is the perfect wake-up call to move on. If this is his last season at Saracens and he says he’s going to move on then he’ll want to finish his England career strong in a World Cup.”
England have just four warm-up matches before their World Cup campaign begins and while Montpellier’s Zach Mercer will also come into the No.8 reckoning, Vunipola himself has not given up on his international ambitions.
He said: “I played with Steve (Borthwick) at Saracens. There’s a lot of respect there. He’s a very good coach and very detailed. When we first had a meeting he was very good and very honest with me. I went away and worked on it.
“Accepting it and moving on has been the most freeing thing for me and also just putting in the hard work away from prying eyes. That’s what has helped me be a lot more consistent this year than last year. I’ve just got to work myself into the team.”
