Saracens issue a short injury update on Billy Vunipola

Saracens have confirmed that the current season is over for Billy Vunipola following the first-half knee injury he sustained in last Sunday's Heineken Champions Cup quarter-final defeat at La Rochelle. The No8 played just 21 minutes of the campaign-ending 24-10 defeat at Stade Marcel Deflandre and he will now miss the rest of his club's schedule in the Gallagher Premiership.

League leaders Saracens have three regular-season matches remaining, starting at Northampton this weekend, before they host a semi-final at the StoneX Arena on May 13. Vunipola will also miss the May 27 final at Twickenham if his club progresses that far.

Despite being excluded from the recent Guinness Six Nations, a tournament that was the first England campaign under new head coach Steve Borthwick, Vunipola would have hoped that an impressive finish to the club season with Saracens would enhance his prospects of a recall in time for the upcoming Rugby World Cup in France.

The was no indication in the tweet posted by Saracens how long Vunipola will be sidelined with the injury. The social media message read: “Billy Vunipola suffered a knee injury during Sunday’s Heineken Champions Cup quarter-final against La Rochelle. He will therefore miss the remainder of the 2022/23 season. We’re all behind you, Billy!”

It was Tuesday when Nathan Hughes, an old rival for the England No8 jersey in the Eddie Jones era, claimed that Vunipola was his preferred player to start in that role at the World Cup.

“I’d still go for Billy,” said Hughes, who now plays his club rugby in Japan. “He is playing well but the coaches have their minds on different ways they want to play. Alex Dombrandt has been playing well and Zach Mercer is coming back because he has been playing well in France the last few years, and it will be interesting to see.”

Why Vunipola, though? “Just go forward. He understands the game and has a bit of experience in World Cups but I’m not a selector. That is just my personal pick.”