Eddie Jones does not expect to have Mako Vunipola available for England’s Six Nations match against Wales after the loosehead prop travelled to Tonga for family reasons last week.
Vunipola missed England’s convincing 24-12 victory over Ireland on Sunday, having travelled to the Pacific Islands after a relative was taken seriously ill.
England will convene in Oxford on Wednesday for their second fallow week of the competition before beginning preparations to face Wales on 7 March. Asked if Vunipola would be available, Jones said: “Probably not. He’s gone home for family business.”
The 29-year-old prop also missed last summer’s defeat by Wales in Cardiff through injury and in his absence again Joe Marler and Ellis Genge are set to share the loosehead responsibilities. His brother Billy is also unavailable with a broken arm but Jones praised the impact of Manu Tuilagi, who returned to the side against Ireland, having missed out in Scotland owing to a groin injury.
“He’s powerful,” Jones said. “We don’t have a powerful backline. We’ve got good movers but power is a very important part of the game and when we don’t have him it’s difficult.”
In his post-match press conference after England’s win over Ireland, Jones claimed that his side were so dominant they could have “declared at half-time”. Seemingly in reference to having to make an apology for a bizarre remark to a reporter last week, he later said: “It’s probably a throwaway line, probably need to apologise for it again. Sorry, sorry, sorry. I know you’re not allowed to say anything that’s a little bit different here, so I’ll apologise.”
Jones also praised Owen Farrell’s captaincy against Ireland, picking up on what he perceived to be criticism of the player’s leadership. “Owen is not even two years into the job,” he said. “Every game he captains, he gets a little bit better. It wasn’t about what he did on the field [against Ireland], it was about what he did in the lead-up to the game.
“He’s learning to be a better captain. Captaincy is hard. You have a room of all different sorts of people and you have to try to find the same page for them and that takes experience. He’s doing a great job.”
