Billy Vunipola says England do not fear facing another pool of death when the draw for the 2019 Rugby World Cup is made on Wednesday with another showdown against Wales among possible scenarios for Eddie Jones’s side.
Ranked second in the world, England’s worst possible draw would include Argentina, who are ninth seeds and therefore in the third band of teams. They will also be up against one of Wales, France, South Africa or Scotland. Two years ago England became the first World Cup host nation to be eliminated in the pool stages after going into the draw ranked fifth and were subsequently pitted against Australia and Wales, who memorably triumphed 28-25 at Twickenham.
On Monday the Wales head coach, Warren Gatland, said he would not mind being drawn with England and on Tuesday Vunipola said: “If you want to win the World Cup, you’re going to have to play the best teams anyway. If you do have Argentina, the goal is to try to beat them, and hopefully that means that you’ll be more battle-hardened for the knockout stages. You shouldn’t be [worried] if you prepare as well as you can. Eddie [Jones] always makes sure that we do. We tend not to worry about other teams.”
While Vunipola has said he will not watch the draw, Jones and the RFU chief executive, Ian Ritchie, will be in attendance in Kyoto. Jones has spoken of the importance of acclimatising for a seven-week competition in the Far East and it is understood the RFU is open to the possibility of staging a World Cup warm-up match in Japan.
The RFU has delayed any concrete decisions until after the draw – England traditionally play three warm-up matches, usually one against Wales, but they will turn elsewhere for opponents if drawn against Gatland’s side, as was the case in 2015. Last month Ritchie said: “We will discuss all those options with Eddie with one simple objective – what does he need that gives us the best chance of winning.”
Meanwhile the England skills coach, Rory Teague, will join Bordeaux-Bègles after the summer tour to Argentina. The highly rated Teague, formerly in charge of England Under-20s, joined Jones’s coaching staff on a part-time basis in November but was given a full-time role in January amid reported interest from Northampton.
Glen Ella will assist with coaching the attack in Argentina, as he did in Australia last summer, but the former Wallaby is not interested in the role full-time and so the departure of Teague – the cousin of the former England and Lions No8 Mike – is a blow to Jones.
Vunipola, meanwhile, is preparing for Saturday’s Champions Cup final against Clermont as Saracens attempt to become the first English team to defend the title successfully since Leicester in 2002. They will do so without Sean Maitland, who has been ruled out for the rest of the season with an ankle injury, but Saracens are unbeaten in 17 European matches, since Clermont beat them in the 2015 semi-final.
“As defending champions people want you to fall at every hurdle. No one likes you, no one really likes Saracens,” said Vunipola. “I think it’s fun when [the crowd is] shouting at you, booing you because it gives them an opportunity to prove them wrong. There were times when I did get flustered [in the semi-final] against Munster, but I’m only human. [My aunts in Australia] told me to keep my head down, stop being arrogant and spoiled. Which is good, because it keeps me grounded.”
