Nick Easter has been called up by England to replace Billy Vunipola who has been ruled out of the Rugby World Cup after suffering a knee ligament strain in the 28-25 defeat by Wales on Saturday which leaves the host nation’s hopes of reaching the knockout stages in disarray.
Easter, 37, goes straight into contention for this Saturday’s must-win match with Australia after the other specialist No8 in England’s squad, Ben Morgan, sat out the Wales game with a knee injury. Vunipola impressed from the start against Wales after coming off the bench against Fiji and his absence is a major blow to Stuart Lancaster, under fire for his tactics against Wales from a number of former players including Will Carling.
“It’s so unfortunate for Billy but the scan shows an injury which means he can’t take any further part in the World Cup,” said Lancaster. “He has worked really hard and committed everything to the last three months but he is a young man with a bright future ahead of him and I know he will be an integral part of this team for years to come. Nick was unlucky to miss out on final selection. He is a specialist No8 and an experienced player. We know he will make a big contribution.”
Easter was part of England’s wider training squad, although he did not travel to the fitness camp in Denver due to a back injury and was cut despite impressing from the bench in the warm-up defeat by France in Paris. With 52 caps to his name he is the only surviving member of the 2007 squad that reached the final before losing to South Africa while he was also part of the ill-fated campaign four years ago in New Zealand.
