«Breaking News» Billy Vunipola offers warning over injuries

Billy Vunipola has been through the wars in recent times and he has the scars to prove it.

A long line of scar tissue runs down his right arm: the result of two separate fractures last season. Those were just two of several injury setbacks during a 24-month injury nightmare for the England and Saracens No 8.

He admits freely there were 'easily 10 times' when he wasn't fit to play, but Vunipola was keen to prove myself and make up for lost time. 

Billy Vunipola revealed the extent to which some injured players go to secure new contracts

'I have thoughts in my head that people doubt me so I have to go the extra mile but now I'm less insecure about myself,' he says.

'But I think those insecurities make me who I am as a player. It drives me to be as good as I can be.'

There has been plenty of talk in recent weeks of a Premiership buyout, big money TV deals and expansion abroad, but player welfare remains the biggest issue in the modern game.

Sam Warburton, 29, retired in the summer after a catalogue of injuries took their toll. Just last week, Leicester flanker Dominic Ryan, 28, documented a harrowing 12 months battling concussion before he decided to call it a day.

The Premiership has never been more prosperous but it remains a ruthless business. For many players, that next contract remains the driving force.

Vunipola issues a stark warning: 'It's tough. I can tell you a lot of people still have injuries and try to hide it. We saw it with the high turnover of players being released (last season). It's almost like we're into NFL territory.

Sam Warburton is one of several players to have retired early due to recurrent injury problems

'We're getting to a stage where competition for places is really hard and you can still have players masking pain, trying to earn that extra contract.

'That's something that's always in the back of my mind. For me, the biggest thing was: do the coaches or the players think that I'm taking them for a ride? That's why I never wanted to say no if I was sore – that was my mindset, no one else's, but I've learnt now I've just got to be up front.'

Speaking of Warburton, the newly-retired Wales and Lions captain has called for more protection of players at the breakdown. His former Lions team-mate Sean O'Brien has echoed those concerns about the way players looking to poach possession at the ruck - known as the jackal - are being targeted with dangerous clear-outs.

Vunipola has own take on the dilemma.

'I find it hard, because the game's so fluent, it's hard for the referee to add that onto their agenda,' he explains.

'They've got the ruck where there's a million things they can penalise people for. It's hard to also watch out for only two players. I get where Warburton is coming from but I think the smartest people - like (Richie) McCaw and those guys - picked their moments the best.

'I'm not saying Warburton didn't, because he's amazing at it. I think as rugby players we need to get smarter, not bigger.'

There have been some dark times in the past 12 months for Vunipola. Commercial work comes with the territory when you're injured. Another drawback for injured players.

The 25-year-old wrecking ball is one of Eddie Jones's most trusted lieutenants and is a world class operator when he's firing on all cylinders. England badly missed him during a worrying third-season slump under Jones. A fifth-placed finish in the Six Nations preceding a 2-1 series loss in South Africa last summer.

Vunipola emerged off the bench to score for Saracens after returning from injury last week

Vunipola battled his way to earn a spot on the plane to Bok territory but he would fracture the same arm once more during the first half of the second Test defeat in Bloemfontein.

All these setbacks have certainly tested his mental fortitude. 'For sure,' he agrees.

'With social media and that kind of stuff, over the last year and a half I was guilty of almost listening to it. I got to the stage where I wasn't doing appearances at Twickenham because I felt embarrassed.

'It was like people would be like "oh, this guy is living off two years of his work". I know no one was thinking that, they just wanted to see me happy, but that was my mindset and that translated over to training and playing.'

After a promising cameo off the bench against Bristol last weekend, Billy V is back on the frontline for Saracens against Northampton on Saturday.

He has plenty of unfinished business. There are plenty of targets on the horizon. There are European Cups and Six Nations titles to reclaim, the visit of the All Blacks in November and the small matter of a World Cup in Japan next year.

For now, it's about getting through a shift unscathed at Franklin's Gardens.

'I think I got to a stage where I was just trying to be a hero, putting myself in situations where I was vulnerable,' he adds.

'For example, I came back against Wasps (last season) and maybe it wasn't the smartest idea from my point of view to tell the coaches that I was ready. It was almost like trying to show them I am tough when I wasn't, and it's no one else's fault but mine.

'I was almost showing a mask that wasn't me and now I'm just up front with everything - if I'm sore I'm sore - not letting my ego dictate what my body's telling me.'

Link article

https://hienalouca.com/2018/09/15/billy-vunipola-offers-warning-over-injuries/
Main photo article Billy Vunipola has been through the wars in recent times and he has the scars to prove it.
A long line of scar tissue runs down his right arm: the result of two separate fractures last season. Those were just two of several injury setbacks during a 24-month injury nightmare for the England and...

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Dianne Reeves Sport HienaLouca





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