At training on Wednesday Billy Vunipola gathered his England teammates around him and delivered seven words they absolutely did not want to hear. “Lads, this could be our last session,” the No 8 told his perspiring comrades. When one or two started smiling, assuming he was having a laugh, he instantly put them straight. “Look, I’m being serious. If we don’t turn up, we are going home.”
Win or lose in the quarter-final against Australia, it was a revealing snapshot. Vunipola is generally a positive, upbeat figure, not often prone to finger-jabbing lectures. Matches such as this, though, can make or break the reputations of players, coaches and referees, and Vunipola wanted everyone to go in with their eyes open. “You don’t want to live in fairyland. We have talked about just taking it head-on and making sure we know what the consequences are. If not, you get to Sunday and it’s done. That’s when the excuses come up.”
Written by Robert Kitson in Beppu
This news first appeared on https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2019/oct/18/billy-vunipola-england-world-cup-quarter-final under the title “‘We turn up, or we are going home’ – Billy Vunipola spells it out for England | Robert Kitson”. Bolchha Nepal is not responsible or affiliated towards the opinion expressed in this news article.
