Rugby World Cup: Mako Vunipola tipped to bring bulldozing best out of baby brother Billy
MAKO VUNIPOLA has been tipped to bring the bulldozing best out of baby brother Billy.
The prop will be on the bench for tomorrow’s Pool C game at Tokyo Stadium — with England needing a win to book a quarter-final spot and send Argentina home.
Mako, 28, has been out since injuring his hamstring against Ireland in August.
Asked if Mako and 26-year-old Billy play better together, boss Eddie Jones said: “Yes, 100 per cent. You see it with brothers.
“There is something about families that distinguishes them from just being friends and I think that carries a lot of weight.
“Mako is the best loosehead in the world and, to have the calmness that he brings, he is a senior counsel for our team.
“And when you’ve got two brothers one’s a bit more volatile, the other is a bit more settled. So Mako was always up at the front with the parents and Billy was in the back, screaming.
“Billy is great for us, he has that fire and temperament and you want that from your No 8.
“World Cups have always been won by big No 8s.”
There is something about families that distinguishes them from just being friends and I think that carries a lot of weight.
Eddie Jones
Jack Nowell, who has not played since ankle and appendix surgery over the summer, also returns to the bench.
Jones warned his side about mind games after Argie skipper Agustin Creevy labelled England boring.
Citing Bob Dwyer’s jibes ahead of the 1991 World Cup final when his Wallabies beat England, Jones added: “It is the old two-card trick.
“Another one of those great old coaches, Bob Dwyer in 1991, threw that one out and there was a response then from the England side.
“Maybe if they hadn’t played like that they would have two World Cups on their sleeves.
“There are many ways to play the game. Nothing is right.
“Find a way to play the game effectively — that is the great thing about our game.
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“We have got a clear plan, a clear thinking of what we are about and most of the time we do that.
“Like any good batsman, you can get seduced by a loose ball outside the off stump every now and then we are as guilty as anyone.
“But by and large, I think we are pretty disciplined.”
