Wasps number eight Billy Vunipola admits his rise to the England squad is "unbelievable" after being hospitalised last year.
Set to be re-united with his brother at Saracens next year, England prop Mako Vunipola, Billy contracted discitis and then pnuemonia in hospital before recovering to star for Wasps in the Aviva Premiership this season.
"I was in hospital for quite a long time so to be sat here now (alongside Mako and in the England squad) is quite unbelievable," said Billy Vunipola.
"I had discitis. I got pneumonia and then I burned my back with a hot water bottle so I was in there for quite a bit longer. I fell asleep on the hot water bottle and forgot to put the outer cover on.
"When I came out of hospital I had to go on antibiotics and go in for regular checks.
"I am not sure I am about to be an England international just yet, but the prospect of it is really exciting."
"I phoned Billy when he was in hospital to ask if he was okay. When I went down to see him he asked me to bring him some food so I brought him KFC," said Mako Vunipola.
"I walked straight through the hospital with it and the nurse was like 'I thought you were supposed to be rugby players'!
"We were bigger than most of the boys but we felt our weight was holding us back a bit. We knew the work we would put in would give us a better chance (of making it at the highest level)."
Comments
lawynd says...
@7ton - I should perhaps have elaborated, I grew up in north Norfolk and as such, George North is a local whether he likes it or not; you can take the lad out of the Fens... ;) Not bored in the slightest, although I'm familiar with all of them except the O'Driscoll comments...what a plum! I'll be watching the game with at least three valley-boyos and there's £50 riding on the outcome...here's hoping for an entertaining game at the very least!
Posted 09:57 15th March 2013
7ton says...
Lawlynd
Yes it carries across most countries.
Regarding George North I believe he was born in Kings Lynn to an English Father but his Mother is Welsh from Anglesey and the family went to Hong Kong when he was 14 weeks old then returned and lived in Anglesey in Wales when he was 2 years old. He is a fluent Welsh speaker and came up through the Welsh schools including Llandovery college. Nobody can possibly object to him playing for Wales.
Toby Faletau came to Wales when he was 7. I believe his Father may be a cousin to the Vunipola boys Father and the pair of them came over together to play for Welsh clubs. These players have grown up here.
Not quite the same case as the likes of Shontayne Hape and others including most countries and let's not forget the Welsh Grannygate affair.
We have the case of Michael Bent from Taranaki who was parachuted into the Irish squad by virtue of a Irish Grandmother and I had to laugh at Brian O'driscoll who when asked about it by the BBC prior to I think the Ireland/S.African game made the rather poor answer that Australia and NZ had been USING Islanders for years.
In any case the laws are the laws and certainly the IRB may need to look at them but as different countries have different circumstances it may not be that easy.
I hope I have not bored you too much with all this so onto the rugby and the good thing about the England/Italy game being so close is that it has set up the Wales/England game to be a potential cracker.
Good luck to your England but I will be shouting for Wales as I come from a Welsh family.
Cheers
Posted 05:58 15th March 2013
lawynd says...
@7ton - it sounds like we probably have similar views. I think my reaction is more extreme than it might have been because this point, if it is even worthy of the name, is the most boring and pathetic part of world rugby to get upset about, and I'd much rather talk about the actual rugby itself rather than where everyone hails from. Apart from George North of course, he's my home-town boy! And I suppose it rankles that England are being accused of something that EVERYONE has done and will continue to do; nobody is making snide comments about Wales (Toby Faletau), Ireland (Mike Ross), Scotland (Sean Maitland), Italy (Luke McLean) or France (Antoine Claassen).
Posted 17:09 14th March 2013
7ton says...
Lawlynd
Yes it has been decades of finger pointing. I ought to know as I have lived in the UK for decades
I would guess and I understand that you probably would not have noticed so much as it probably seemed unimportant to you until it actually turned towards England.
Of coarse Stephen Jones was/is such an outspoken clown that you would notice him. I share the same opinion of him (Jones) as you and I will again stress that I am referring to the whole of the UK and Ireland and not just England.
However again I have to say that I find it amazing that you can say that I am "nursing a splinter as though it was a mortal wound" when you yourself have acted like you were mortally wounded with your reaction to the original poster.
Posted 12:20 14th March 2013
lawynd says...
@7ton - was it really 'decades of finger pointing'? I think that's a severe exaggeration - in my lifetime, I've only ever read that accusation from a few idiots who know nothing about the game, and Stephen Jones. Who is also an idiot who knows nothing about the game. Unless what's reported in the UK has no relation to what you read from our press, I find it hard to believe you, frankly. You're nursing a splinter as though it was a mortal wound and the 'banter' or 'irony' is simply bitter, childish, "But they do it too, neener!" nonsense.
Posted 09:02 14th March 2013
7ton says...
Lawlynd
I can understand you defending your team and nobody likes to hear criticism of their country especially if it is unjustified.
However I find it amazing that you can launch a scathing attack on the original poster for pointing out a bit of Irony while at the same time dismissing decades of finger pointing at NZ by many media people and fans as just a bit of stirring by just a couple of hacks.
As for you saying Stephen Jones is Welsh, Tyler-Durden did use the word British and besides he (Jones) writes for an English newspaper.
After all the flack NZ has copped surely you can understand a few Kiwis having a bit of a dig!
Posted 10:07 13th March 2013
lawynd says...
@Tyler_Durden - if you think there is or was a 'campaign' against New Zealand, might I interest you in a tinfoil hat? Again, in smaller words for you this time, you're talking about a couple of hacks (one of whom is Welsh, not English) who, surprise surprise, stirred up controversy about nothing...a bit like when a Kiwi lass suggested she was assaulted by a couple of England players (she lied), or a nightclub bouncer sold footage of England players having a beer.
The fact of the matter is, no matter what we do there'll be some plebs like you who will find fault with it because for whatever reason, you just don't like us.
Posted 11:44 11th March 2013
Tyler_Durden says...
lawynd - i'm not sure anyone would give a crap about you finger pointing or otherwise, but to deny a relentlessness and baseless attack on NZ by most British media outlets on NZ for poaching is delusional at best.
The point most posters are making is that there is a more than healthy dose of irony in England picking P.I players after such a long and sustained campaign against NZ.
Even the most one eyed of the red rose brigade would have to acknowledge that.
Posted 11:21 09th March 2013
7ton says...
Lawlynd
I understand your point of view but unfortunately it is most likely to go on and we don't have to look back too far on this site and you will find posters from many countries pointing the finger at poaching by NZ and England/Wales and others. Some may be a bit of banter while most were probably just baseless accusations used as an excuse for continued losses. There may be at times a bit of truth to the accusations and most of us would like the IRB to look at things like the residency period. However I would agree with Nubbin where he hopes the IRB would get the scrum sorted out first.
Posted 10:37 09th March 2013
ArmchairGeneral says...
@nubbins: we're you hoping no one would notice your deselection for the France game of 2. Hartley; New Zealand
Posted 23:29 08th March 2013
lawynd says...
@7ton - point me to these people and I'll wag my finger with a stern look on my face if you'd like...but what precisely will it achieve? Will you get a warm glow inside, knowing that at least one Englishman appreciates the distinction?
No, I suspect you won't. What would actually be best is for everyone, everywhere, to stop bloody well going on about it. I appreciate that probably includes me and those of us who were quick to give Isograford a verbal slap but you can't tell me you're wouldn't have given the same response if we were being as ignorant?
Posted 17:30 08th March 2013
nubbin says...
I don't think anyone is being "sensitive" here - it's just the original comment was just wrong, whether tongue-in-cheek or not. The residency rules need reviewing, but the IRB needs to get the bloody scrum sorted out before that!
Posted 12:53 08th March 2013
7ton says...
Lawynd
For someone who doesn't care what we think you sure have shown a strange reaction
Stephen Jones upset many of his fellow Welshmen years ago and for what difference it makes he is regarded as a writer for an English viewpoint. In any case please note I used the words British and English/Welsh.
Further Stephen Jones is far from the only British writer or fan that jumped on the bandwagon with finger pointing and excuse making re poaching that went on for decades. No doubt you would have been bored stiff with all that.
I remember some time ago one Journo and I won't mention his name as I am not sure if he is still alive complained how unfair it was that a NZ Schools team had some huge Samoans in their forward pack. The fact that these youngster actually were in school in NZ and were in fact NZ schoolboys didn't seem to matter. I'm sure you will agree that does border on being racist and Xenophobic.
Posted 12:43 08th March 2013
lawynd says...
@7ton / Tyler_Durden - the 'man' (I use the term loosely) you're looking for is Stephen Jones. Who happens to be Welsh, not English, by the way. Nevertheless, we'll apologise for him, but you'll have to show us where anyone except a few complete morons (you have some too I'm sure...we try not to let them out in public too often) also jumped on this most pointless of bandwagons.
I'm not sensitive, I personally couldn't give a toss what you chaps think about us and our team, but I do think it's a really, really boring topic to keep going on about and frankly, I'd rather talk about rugby. You know, 15-a-side, burly chaps, backwards passes, etc. I don't believe that nationality Top Trumps scores you any points, so why keep going on about it? Plus there's the truism that 'two wrongs don't make a right'...Isograford might have been going for comedy value (you failed, by the way) but an awful lot of the comments on the topic tend to be mean-spirited, vindictive and occasionally bordering on racist and xenophobic.
Posted 10:14 08th March 2013
TVaddict says...
@7ton
Agreed!
@Tyler_Durden
What?! How dare you say that! Rah, anger, fume, etc! :)
Posted 09:29 08th March 2013
Waz4before says...
@ Centre12 - I don't think the 3 year regulation is an RFU one, I think the IRB set the rules on qualification. Agreed 3 years sets the bar low but there has to be one figure for all because every country has different residency rules in regards of time it take to qualify. In this particular case its a non issue as they'd qualify no matter ..
Isograford - I live in Brisbane, surely you mean the Australians crying "poaching' as I've read a lot in their media these past few years ;-)
Posted 05:49 08th March 2013
Tyler_Durden says...
Jeez you poms really are a sensitive bunch aren't you.
Given the way your media introduced the storm to the teacup with their baseless poaching claims and petty insinuations, for well over a decade, you'd think you guys might take a bit of gentle ribbing on the chin. Guess not, eh..
Posted 04:50 08th March 2013
7ton says...
bullit and others
I don,t see any bleating from Kiwis here but rather some very sensitive responses from some of you guys.
I would guess that isograford is just having a laugh and pointing out the irony in regards to the british media and many fans bleating on about NZ poaching for so many years.
We could say that these guys along with the one playing for Wales only ended up here because their Father/brothers were bought by English/Welsh clubs. LOL just a bit of fun. Seriously these guys grew up here and are quite entitled to play for the country of their choice.
While these guys have obviously lived here long enough I think most of us would agree that the residency period should be longer than just 3 years.
Hope everyone enjoys what should be a good weekend of rugby
Posted 00:31 08th March 2013
firepower says...
agreed @APV1 you just finished the story lad haha. good quote mate haha.
Posted 21:16 07th March 2013
heart_of_oak says...
Lawynd - wasn't that journalist a welsh man rather than an evil scheming Pom ?
Posted 17:54 07th March 2013