Mark McCall urges Eddie Jones to recall Vunipola brothers

Planet Rugby

Saracens director of rugby Mark McCall feels Billy and Mako Vunipola have done enough to be recalled by England and urged the national team’s head coach, Eddie Jones, to include the experienced duo in his squad for the upcoming Six Nations Championship.

England kick off their Six Nations campaign against Scotland at Murrayfield on February 5. Jones is set to name his squad for their tournament opener on January 18 and McCall believes the Vunipola brothers are playing well enough to return to the Test scene after they were dropped from the England squad for last year’s Autumn Nations Series.

This, after the duo turned down lucrative offers from Top 14 clubs and signed new contracts with Saracens.

“They have shown good form over the three months since they weren’t selected,” McCall told the Daily Mail. “If Eddie wanted to get a reaction from them, he definitely got that. They are both playing well. They have committed to staying in England, which shows that they want to go to the World Cup.

“But the rest is not up to them. I’m not sure who is going to be involved (from Saracens), at the moment. We were surprised in the autumn.”

Owen Farrell on the road to recovery

Meanwhile, Saracens and England fly-half Owen Farrell is set to return to action when Sarries host London Irish in a European Challenge Cup match on January 23 after recovering from an ankle injury.

Farrell has been sidelined since sustaining the injury in England’s Autumn Nations Series win over Australia. The 30-year-old and his Saracens team-mates went into England’s end-of-year internationals short of game-time and struggled with his form but McCall believes he will be in better nick this time.

“It is different because Owen has been playing this season,” he said. “Historically, he’s been really good at coming back from injury.

“He has an ability to hit the ground running and he is an incredibly fit guy. He has been working hard on his skills over the last four weeks.”