There's a bit in the media this morning about Billy Vunipola's performance for Sarries yesterday vs Sale Sharks, with some even saying that it merited a return to the England fold.
Well, I was there Yesterday at a bloody freezing StoneX Stadium (second week running, having played in a touch tournament there the previous weekend), and I have to say I didn't think Billy was all that great.
He defended well, granted, and threw out a couple of nice passes, including one of his left hand to create a try for Sean Maitland in the second half but, by and large, I thought he had a fairly quiet game, drifting in and out and even being stripped of possession on a couple of occasions. Was he terrible? No. But I was a little baffled by his Player of the Match award at the end.
Of the Saracens contingent, the front row - featuring Billy's brother Mako - went well, Maro Itoje and Nick Isiekwe were both prominent in defence and behind the scrum Alex Lozowski and Max Malins looked sharp but, despite Saracens winning 25-14, it was Sale who largely dominated possession and for long periods of the game they looked the better side. I thought Raffi Quirke, in particular, was excellent.
As for Billy, his skills are there for all to see - his passing range is really quite impressive now - and he looks far trimmer than he was during the 2021 Six Nations, but I would say he is still some way behind the likes of Tom Curry (who came on as a first half replacement yesterday), Sam Simmonds and Alex Dombrandt at number 8 in terms their industry and the number of effective involvements they have in a game.
On the evidence of yesterday I would say he is still some way off an England recall - but who knows what Eddie Jones might think?
