Rugby World Cup 2019: Billy Vunipola opens up on his brother like never before ahead of England vs Australia

‘Anything that comes towards the Vunipolas he usually takes the brunt of it and I’m always in the back just kicking back as younger brothers do. I enjoy having him around, he’s a bit like my shield’

Billy Vunipola has opened up on his relationship with older brother Mako like never before, labelling him his “shield” and revealing on the eve of the biggest game of his career that he fully buys into the belief that he performs better when the pair are both playing.

The England No 8 struck an open and reflective tone ahead of the Rugby World Cup quarter-final against Australia, discussing how he and Mako get on within the pressure of an eight-week campaign, which the pair both hope will continue beyond this.

It has been a difficult journey for both to get here, with Billy missing the best part of 18 months through a series of knee injuries and broken arms, while Mako nearly missed the tournament completely when he tore his hamstring back in May.

But they will start for England in today’s last-eight encounter, where they will share the bulk of the ball-carrying responsibilities with Manu Tuilagi in what will be just the third time the trio have started together for the national team.

Billy has had to go it alone so far in Japan, with his brother missing the first two games of the campaign and only coming off the bench in the third when the younger of the pair had left with an ankle injury. But with both of them fully fit and named by Eddie Jones to lead the charge against the Wallabies, there will be a bond out on the pitch inside the Oita Stadium that will bring the best out of both of them. The message is simple: two Vunipolas are better than one.

“It definitely is a thing,” says 26-year-old Billy, two years younger than his brother. “Subconsciously, it’s not something we think about but it’s about giving myself a little more time. Having my brother there gives me that time.

“He obviously takes away tension because he is as much of a threat. We’ve got the Sincklers and the Jamie Georges but I think he goes really well in that capacity off nine and that helps to give me space and timing in the next carry.

“He takes a lot of pressure off me because he’s the older brother, so anything that comes towards the Vunipolas he usually takes the brunt of it and I’m always in the back just kicking back as younger brothers do. I enjoy having him around, he’s a bit like my shield. That’s what big brothers do. I thoroughly enjoy playing with him and I’m happy to see him back in the team.”

Such is that unseen sibling bond, it changed the course of Billy’s career. The two played against each other in 2012/13, when Billy was still at Wasps and Mako had made the move to Saracens. "It was easier in the garden, because we were brothers. On the pitch it was hard. I don’t know, I'd do something to him and people would talk about it. It was difficult, I didn't want to tackle him, it felt really weird. Not long after, I signed to go to the same club. That's probably how much it meant to myself and my family, I'd rather be with him than against him."

The pair are not that close off the field, communicating mainly between their wives instead of each other, though Mako’s recently-born son has helped them to spend more time together. “We have a funny relationship. Deep down I think we really love each other but he’d never say it to me, I always say it to him and he gets embarrassed and runs away.

“There is definitely that love and respect. We just do our own jobs. We don’t have to hang around and tell each other every day or every other minute how much we care for each other, it’s just there. He’s family and I can’t change that. That is probably what differentiates me and him to everyone else, that he’s my brother.”

They were united however in travelling into central Beppu on Thursday afternoon along with the other Saracens players in the squad to meet with Liam Williams and Rhys Carre, their Allianz Park clubmates, for a coffee and a catch-up. Who could possibly tell what was being discussed, just two weeks on from Wales’s victory over the Wallabies...

Older brother Mako Vunipola plays the role of Billy's shield (Getty)

The details of one conversation that we do know about though happened during England’s main training session on Wednesday, when Vunipola attempted to dish out a dose of realism to his teammates. Four years ago, the forward was part of Stuart Lancaster’s side that got caught up in the hyperbole surrounding the team at a home World Cup and suffered a premature exit as a result. He does not want the same to happen again, especially given the four years of hard work that has gone into this project.

"I said it as a joke and I think I shocked a few of the boys,” he explained, “I said it as a remark just to check the boys were aware… 'lads, this could be our last session'.

“I had a few stares from the lads and they just all laughed it off, but I was, like, I am being serious, if we don’t turn up, we are going home.

"It is always nice to remind yourself, you don't want to live in fairyland, because you get to Sunday and it's done, and that's when the excuses come up. You just take it head on, we have talked about it already, made sure we know what the consequences are, and we also know if we can keep playing the way we have been playing but just that little bit better, we will be in a good place."

Vunipola is aware England could be going home come Sunday (AP)

If England can keep the Vunipolas on the pitch along with Tuilagi for the duration, Australia will find themselves in a fair bit of trouble. The only two times the trio have played together for England came earlier this year, when they did a demolition job on Ireland in their Dublin victory and following up with a brutal first-half display against France the following week.

Jones has built his entire World Cup plan around these three key players as a result, and after just about getting them fit and firing, it’s time for them to prove why that was a smart decision.

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