England’s Billy Vunipola vows to bounce back after opening Six Nations loss to Scotland

BILLY VUNIPOLA says he takes a lot of the “blame” for dire England’s shock loss against Scotland but is adamant they can quickly restore order to their Six Nations defence against Italy.

The hard-running No8 has rarely been as ineffectual in his 67 Red Rose appearances as he was during Saturday’s dismal 11-6 defeat at Twickenham.

Normally such a talisman, Vunipola hardly featured as England’s vanquished pack was completely outplayed in their tournament opener.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

The Saracens star was also yellow-carded in the first period and there was none of the bullocking carries that ordinarily gets Eddie Jones’s side moving.

“That’s on me as much as anyone else,” insisted Vunipola.

“I didn’t put myself in the right positions.

“I’ll see where I can help the team more. But that was on me.

“I take a lot of that blame. A lot of my work is helping the team and putting them on the front foot.

BAD DAY: Scotland's Finn Russell (centre) is tackled by England's Billy Vunipola (left) and Jonny Hill, resulting in a yellow card for Vunipola at Twickenham. Picture: David Davies/PABAD DAY: Scotland's Finn Russell (centre) is tackled by England's Billy Vunipola (left) and Jonny Hill, resulting in a yellow card for Vunipola at Twickenham. Picture: David Davies/PA
BAD DAY: Scotland's Finn Russell (centre) is tackled by England's Billy Vunipola (left) and Jonny Hill, resulting in a yellow card for Vunipola at Twickenham. Picture: David Davies/PA

“I didn’t do that; it’s part of many things that make the team click and it just didn’t happen.

“That snowballed.”

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

England do not have long to put things right given Italy arrive at Twickenham on Saturday.

That said, it is probably a perfect opponent; the Azzurri suffered their own abject show last weekend – being comprehensively defeated 50-10 by France in Rome – and have still yet to beat England in any of their 27 meetings since first coming together in the 1991 World Cup.

England's Billy Vunipola Picture: Adam Davy/PAEngland's Billy Vunipola Picture: Adam Davy/PA
England's Billy Vunipola Picture: Adam Davy/PA

Vunipola, 28, is confident his side have enough time to address their own problems and takes heart from the fact they lost their championship opener in Paris last year but still went on to claim the title.

He added: “We know these things happen.

“It is frustrating. I won’t lie. But this happened last year and we managed to pull it back so it’s massive for all of us to make sure we get around each other and whatever we need to fix this week we do as soon as possible.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

“We only have a week to do it, which is probably the best thing for us – we don’t have a fallow week to let that settle in and frustrate us.”

England's Billy Vunipola, far left, is shown a yellow card by referee Andrew Brace at Twickenham on Saturday. Picture: David Davies/PAEngland's Billy Vunipola, far left, is shown a yellow card by referee Andrew Brace at Twickenham on Saturday. Picture: David Davies/PA
England's Billy Vunipola, far left, is shown a yellow card by referee Andrew Brace at Twickenham on Saturday. Picture: David Davies/PA

Much was made of England’s lack of discipline, too, with 10 penalties conceded in the first half alone. As they step up preparations for Italy, Vunipola has admitted he and his erring team-mates have to take heed of what the referee is actually telling them.

“A lot of it was down to our own doing,” he added.

“The yellow card didn’t help the team – that’s when they scored the try – and every time we got some ascendancy we let off the pressure valve by conceding or giving them an opportunity to make everything a mess.

“It caused a lot of frustration. In the first 20 minutes we must have given away 10 penalties and that didn’t help our cause.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

“After that, you have to be whiter than white and once you give the referee the image you are conceding willingly it’s tough to wrestle that momentum back.

“It felt like we were trying too hard at times and we weren’t listening to the referee; we were kind of just on our own vibes. And that did not help us at all.”

His Saracens team-mate Maro Itoje summed matters up after England’s first Twickenham loss against Scotland since 1983.

The British Lions lock said: “You never really forget these days, you never really forget these moments, and to be honest I don’t really want to forget them.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

“I want to move on from it, but I don’t want to forget it as it keeps you sharp. Losing like this at Twickenham is never what you dream of.”

England have slipped to third in the world rankings after Saturday’s loss, being overtaken by the All Blacks who did not have a game.

It ended an eight-match winning run but the ongoing paucity of their attacking game has left plenty of question marks over Jones’s tactics and style.

Support The Yorkshire Post and become a subscriber today. Your subscription will help us to continue to bring quality news to the people of Yorkshire. In return, you’ll see fewer ads on site, get free access to our app and receive exclusive members-only offers. Click HERE to subscribe.

Comment Guidelines

National World encourages reader discussion on our stories. User feedback, insights and back-and-forth exchanges add a rich layer of context to reporting. Please review our Community Guidelines before commenting.