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England fans devastated by Mako Vunipola injury
By Josh Raisey
After the news emerged that Mako Vunipola has been ruled out of the rest of the Six Nations with an ankle injury, England fans flooded onto Twitter to show their disappointment.
The prop has been sensational for England so far this championship, and has shown how pivotal he is to the team after missing the Autumn. He is one of the best loosehead props in the world at the moment and is integral to England’s attack.
It is not only his power that makes him such a threat to opposing defences, but his deft hands, which means defenders struggle to read what he is going to do. The way he links with other forwards and his fly-half Owen Farrell is a major basis for England’s attack, and something that no other prop offers. His workrate is also major asset, shown by him topping the tackle count against Ireland and almost playing the entire 80 minutes- earning him the Man-of-the-Match award. Furthermore, his scrummaging has got much stronger in recent months, which was always deemed to be his weakness. The list seems to be unending as to why he is critical to England.
His loss will be immeasurable, and while Ben Moon is a very strong scrummager, and Ellis Genge is a devastating ball carrier, neither possesses the complete array of skills that Vunipola has, and Eddie Jones will know this.
The fans are rightfully distressed over this news, particularly with the huge clash with Wales on the horizon. Many have highlighted how crucial the Saracen has been to England, and have rightfully identified him as one of England’s best players.
With the World Cup at the end of the year, some fans have stressed that the main objective will be to have the 28-year-old fit for the showcase in Japan. But in the intervening time, England and Saracens will suffer. The prop will miss Sarries’ Champions Cup quarter-final with Glasgow at the end of March, and could well miss their semi-final in April should they get that far. But for now, England will miss him most.
This is what the fans have to say:
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Latest Comments
I didn't mean to sound down on Dmac. Just looking hard at the bench sub's role of providing impact. I don't think he can do that at 15, and the bench is not really about injury cover anymore (you need to maximise it's use more than that).
He's my first choice of any New Zealander for the 10 jersey with the All Blacks.
Go to commentsAgreed. And I don't have much more to say on it, but I had been having one thought that sprang to mind at the tail of this discussion, and that is that it's not all about Razor.
It's not about any coach being "right". I think a lot of selections can become defense and while it doesn't really apply here I really enjoyed that Andy Farrell just gave into the public demands and changed out his team for the change that had been asked for. Like why not? This is the countries team, keep them engaged. The whole reason i've only just finished watching the game was because I wasn't interested in watching any of the selected players against a team like Italy (still actually enjoyed the first half with the contest Italy made of it).
Faz leap frogs a younger half back into start. He hands the golden child the game over July's golden child. He gives an old winger a go, a new flanker and hooker. None of them really did any good, certainly not enough to suggest they should have been promoted above others, but who cares? You won, and you gave the country what they wanted, that's all that matters after all. It's for the country, not the one in charge who thinks they have to have their own pied piper tune playing.
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