1
Vunipola: Nothing fazes Itoje
By Alex Fisher
Billy Vunipola has backed England team-mate Maro Itoje to thrive on his first British and Irish Lions tour despite being just 22 years old.
Itoje only made his international debut in 2016 but already has two Six Nations titles to his name as part of Eddie Jones' dominant side.
A call-up from Warren Gatland for the Lions' tour of New Zealand was inevitable after his impressive form for England and Saracens - the lock helping them to back-to-back European Champions Cup successes.
Itoje will not take part in the Lions' first tour match with the New Zealand Provincial Barbarians on Saturday, but is expected to be in the first XV for the opening Test with the All Blacks on June 24.
Vunipola is not surprised, having been amazed by his Saracens team-mate's performances at such an early stage of his career.
"He's such a good player that you don't really think that he's only 22," Vunipola told Omnisport.
"I think that's one of his best features, is that nothing kind of fazes him. He has that amazing ability to kind of take things as they come.
"Like he's doing university and he does all his uni work on our plane back from away games. He'll just turn up and just be Maro on the pitch, and afterwards, just Maro still.
"Nothing really fazes him or changes him, and I think that's the best thing about him."
Trending on RugbyPass
2
David Campese names his Springbok world player of the year winner
3
Let's be real about these All Blacks
4
Why World Cup winner doesn’t blame All Black for leaving New Zealand
5
Latest Comments
I thought you meant in europe. Because all of the reasons theyre different I wouldn't correlate that to mean for europe, as in french broadcasters pay two or three times as much as the UK or SA broadcasters do, like they do for their league.
With France, it's not just about viewers, they are also paying much more. So no doubt there will be a hit (to the amount the French teams receive for only playing a fraction of it) but they may not care too much as long as the big clubs, the top 8 for example, enter the meaty end, and it wouldn't have the same value to them as the top14 contract/compensation does. Hell, I wouldn't be surprised if the 3 separate networks broadcast deals only went to the clubs in their regions as well (that's how SR ended up (unbalanced) I believe).
Go to commentsHis best years were 2018 and he wasn't good enough to win the World Cup in 2023! (Although he was voted as the best player in the world in 2023)
Go to comments