Rugby World Cup 2019: England prepared to fast-track Mako Vunipola to start against Argentina

Prop has played 17 minutes of rugby in four-and-a-half months following surgery on a hamstring tear but could find himself thrown straight into the starting line-up to take on the Pumas on Saturday

England are willing to fast-track Mako Vunipola into the starting line-up for this Saturday’s crucial Rugby World Cup clash against Argentina, despite the prop playing just 17 minutes of rugby in four-and-a-half months.

Vunipola underwent surgery on his hamstring in May after limping out of Saracens’ Champions Cup final victory, and an attempted return during the World Cup warm-ups had to be aborted when he damaged the scar tissue against Ireland.

The loosehead prop was subsequently ruled out of England’s opening World Cup victories against Tonga and the United States, but returned to full training last Friday along with Jack Nowell to give England boss Eddie Jones a full 31-man squad to select from. In Vunipola’s absence, however, Joe Marler and Ellis Genge have impressed, and it is not a given that Vunipola can count on what he has done over his 54 England appearances to date to walk straight back into the side.

But with two in-form looseheads and a world class front-row forward to select from, England are not against throwing Vunipola straight back into the mix.

“Sometimes you're better off starting with the adrenalin pumping rather than sitting on the bench,” said scrum coach Neil Hatley. “We'll know more Tuesday or Wednesday where Mako is.

“It is not so much markers [that Vunipola will have to hit]. We will see in training. Like all of our front row, how they get up off the floor when they defend, how often they put themselves in positions to attack, repeat efforts in training. When we have scrums under duress, making sure they get up and work away from that. All the coaches have a look at how each player contributes. There are not so much set markers but how they contribute to training and beyond that what he does that is of value to the team.

“We'll all have input on it and Eddie has the final say.”

So far in Japan, Jones has decided to start with Marler and bring Genge off the bench, with the man dubbed ‘the Baby Rhino’ making a strong impact against the USA with a storming 50m break. Given that Marler retired from international rugby last September, it has been something of an unusual 12 months for the Harlequins loosehead, even by his account. But Hatley believes that the two performances delivered so far this tournament justifies his inclusion in Japan.

“Joe brings a real aggressive attitude to anything he does,” added Hatley. “He hits hard defensively and he is a good set-piece technician. Joe has other parts to his game but those are the ones that really stand out.

“I thought towards the end of the season was probably as well as he has played and he has carried that form through. Against Tonga he was very good, it is not often you see Tongan forwards getting speared backwards and Joe was at the forefront of that. He scrummaged well against America. He is fitter than he was, he has come in and pitched himself into training after the break that he had. He is probably fitter than he has ever been and you see that around the pitch.”

Mako Vunipola could start for England against Argentina on his return from injury (Getty)

Should Vunipola come straight back into the squad, one of Marler or Genge will miss out on selection against Argentina. “There are three guys going for two shirts, so that doesn't work,” admitted Marler on Monday. “It's great to have Mako back and he's been in training for the last couple of weeks anyway.

“He's back fully fit and he brings world class experience and talent into that role. So, I've enjoyed my time.”

Jones will decide who gets the nod on Thursday when he announces his team, with Vunipola required to come through three consecutive days of live scrum training in order to show he is prepared to face Argentina – whose reputation as one of the most powerful scrummaging sides in world rugby goes before them.

Hatley added: “He will have to do what we put in front of him. There are no set numbers to it, if we feel the players are short we will put in some pick-ups. We will scrummage today, Tuesday and Wednesday so that should be sufficient.”