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Mako Vunipola has been ruled out of the rest of the Six Nations after suffering ankle ligament damage during last Sunday’s victory over France.
The loosehead prop, who was England ’s man of the match in the upset victory over Ireland, has been ruled out for more than two months after being forced off the field during the 44-8 victory at Twickenham in the 44th minute.
England confirmed on Tuesday that the injury is expected to require around 10 weeks to recover, and as a result he has been sent back to club Saracens to begin his rehabilitation.
“It is obviously very disappointing to lose Mako at this stage as he is an important player for us but it does provide an opportunity for the team to grow,” said England head coach Eddie Jones, who revealed on Sunday that he will call in reinforcements to cover for Vunipola’s absence.
The absence of the 28-year-old deals England a large blow ahead of next weekend’s Grand Slam eliminator against Wales, with Exeter Chiefs prop Ben Moon and Leicester’s Ellis Genge likely to battle it out for the right to start in Cardiff on 23 February.
Show all 30 1 /30Six Nations: England vs France player ratings Six Nations: England vs France player ratings Elliot Daly - 8 Set-up the opening try with his smart kick in behind Penaud and looks to be flourishing in combination with Farrell and Slade. It was his mazy run that caused the first bout of panic in the French defence, and while he was quieter with the ball in hand after that, this was another step in the right direction.
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Six Nations: England vs France player ratings Chris Ashton - 7 Unlucky not to bag a try when he raced onto a kick just before the break, though Slade would be the beneficiary of that with the fourth try. Nearly got back in time to stop Penaud for the French try, and it was his support line that led to the penalty try and subsequent yellow card for Fickou.
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Six Nations: England vs France player ratings Henry Slade - 8 Another standout performance from the Exeter Chiefs centre. Finished his try well with a simple sidestep inside Guirado to seal the bonus point, and part of the kicking unit that kept France pinned back.
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Six Nations: England vs France player ratings Manu Tuilagi - 7 Not as prominent in attack as he was in Dublin, though still played a role in the second try for May. Defensively he was at fault for not bringing down Huget for the France try, but it was another promising performance from the centre.
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Six Nations: England vs France player ratings Jonny May - 9 Went joint-seventh with Josh Lewsey in the all-time England try-scoring charts with a deadly display of finishing. Can claim to be among the fastest wings in the world as his pace brought him his first and third tries, racing on to kicks behind the defence, while his second came from lovely footwork to deceive Penaud. His hard running also produced Farrell’s try, and his only blemish was the missed tackle on Huget for the French try.
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Six Nations: England vs France player ratings Owen Farrell - 9 A brilliant display of calculated kicking as he caused France all kinds of issues in behind the defensive line. Aware enough to spot an overlap on the blindside for May’s second try and deservedly bagged his own after a smart quick-penalty inside his own half.
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Six Nations: England vs France player ratings Ben Youngs - 8 Kept England on the front foot with his kicking which continues to improve. Eddie Jones wants him to prove he is the world’s best scrum-half, and on the performances of the last two weeks he is certainly not far off.
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Six Nations: England vs France player ratings Mako Vunipola - 8 Carried with his usual physicality and power, and defended well once again with his tackle count in double figures. His day was worryingly ended early though as he limped off with an ankle injury not long after the break, which will be a concern for the Wales trip.
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Six Nations: England vs France player ratings Jamie George - 7 Agile running either side of the breaks as he floated out to the wide channels to give England some muscle on the flanks. Looked furious with being thrown through the advertising hoardings - understandably - and hit 10 of his 12 lineouts.
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Six Nations: England vs France player ratings Kyle Sinckler - 8 Solid in the scrum and enjoyed two powerful runs early on. Aware enough not to get sucked into going it alone and threw a lovely pass to Slade for his try as a result. Only blemish was triggering the needless melee with a slap to Iturria’s head that cost England a penalty.
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Six Nations: England vs France player ratings Courtney Lawes - 8 Deputised for Maro Itoje superbly with a number of his usual bone-crunching tackles - the most notable on Lambey in the second half. Handy in the lineout two as he pinched French ball, particularly on the French 22 to put England on the attack.
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Six Nations: England vs France player ratings George Kruis - 7 Another solid shift at the lineout and reliable in defence. Could have offered more in the loose though.
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Six Nations: England vs France player ratings Mark Wilson - 7 Another ferocious defensive display bettered only by Curry. Singled out for conceding a penalty in the second half but other than that it was positive impact after positive impact.
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Six Nations: England vs France player ratings Tom Curry - 8 Set the tone for England’s defensive effort with a team-leading 19 tackles and a brilliant showing in the breakdown. Clocked a bang to the head soon after the restart that saw him depart for five minutes to have his forehead stitched back together, and his turnover-penalty late in the day was a symbol of his never-say-die attitude.
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Six Nations: England vs France player ratings Billy Vunipola - 8 Had to do a lot of hard carrying and reaped the rewards of it. Dropped back on a number of occasions to give himself a run up at the defence, and each time he won the contest.
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Six Nations: England vs France player ratings France: Yoann Huget - 4 Out of his depth at full-back. Caught out positionally so often that even he will have lost count. Made a telling contribution with a lovely break to set-up the try, but beyond that 30 seconds he was very poor. Replaced at half-time by debutant Thomas Ramos.
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Six Nations: England vs France player ratings Damian Penaud - 5 Looked France’s most lively threat in the opening stages and so it proved as he stuck to his wing to finish Huget’s eye-catching break. Defensively, he was poor as May tore him apart.
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Six Nations: England vs France player ratings Mathieu Bastareaud - 3 His first telling contribution in the match came in the 72nd minute as he busted through a tackle from Dan Cole and Nowell. That says everything you need to know about his performance.
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Six Nations: England vs France player ratings Geoffrey Doumayrou - 3 Made some of the easy yards that France were gifted late on, but he was far too anonymous through an inside centre.
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Six Nations: England vs France player ratings Gael Fickou - 4 Kept out of the action in the first half as England flooded the opposite side of the pitch. Came in search of the ball in the second half, only to be harshly yellow carded for tackling Ashton without the ball.
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Six Nations: England vs France player ratings Camille Lopez - 5 Could not replicate his first-half showing from Paris last week. Kept quiet by England throughout and did little of note.
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Six Nations: England vs France player ratings Morgan Parra - 4 Spilled the ball forwards that led to May’s hat-trick sealing kick. Guilty of knocking it forwards again soon after and came off second best by a distance in the battle with Youngs.
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Six Nations: England vs France player ratings Jefferson Poirot - 5 At fault when England’s replacements folded the French scrum in half and was replaced soon after - only for replacement Dany Priso to go down injured five minutes later. Received brownie points from Nigel Owens when the referee spotted his Rainbow Laces, which provided a nice moment.
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Six Nations: England vs France player ratings Guilhem Guirado - 6 Played more like a blindside flanker with his support running but wasn’t up to the task when he conceded an early penalty. Tried to lead by example with a good display - the only problem was his troops had long deserted him.
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Six Nations: England vs France player ratings Demba Bamba - 5 For so much promise he delivered so little, but at 20 years old he remains one for the future, not the now. Thrust into the game due to Uini Atonio’s injury.
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Six Nations: England vs France player ratings Sebastien Vahaamahina - 4 His only moment of note came when he pushed George through the advertising hoardings during the off-field melee, and for a player of his size and stature, he is proving a waste of space.
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Six Nations: England vs France player ratings Felix Lambey - 5 Promoted to the starting line-up after a good cameo in Paris and tried to leave his mark on the English, only for Lawes to firmly stop him in his tracks. Part of an impressive late move when he offloaded to Iturria, but it was his knock-on soon after that killed the move.
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Six Nations: England vs France player ratings Yannick Camara - 3 Didn’t do a lot of tackling, didn’t do a lot of carrying. Didn’t do a lot on the whole, actually.
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Six Nations: England vs France player ratings Arthur Iturria - 4 Any good work he did in the back-row - and there wasn’t much - when he mock-applauded Luke Cowan-Dickie and Farrell after a hard tackle on the replacement hooker - when France were already 44-8 down.
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Six Nations: England vs France player ratings Louis Picamoles - 6 Probaby France’s best carrier but he wasn’t given much opportunity to impose on England. Made a crunching tackle on Ashton when May sent him a hospital pass of a quick lineout.
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Jones will name his squad that will prepare for that match with a three-day training camp in Kensington on Wednesday, where it is likely that Moon’s Exeter teammate Alec Hepburn will be recalled to the squad.
But this latest setback is a cruel blow for Vunipola, who also missed the autumn internationals last November after tearing his calf muscle that sidelined him for two months.
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