THERE has been a suggestion from the Harlequins scrum coach, Adam Jones, that Billy Vunipola failed to make the 2021 Lions squad because Warren Gatland holds a grudge.
According to the ‘Hair Bear' the grudge goes back to the 2017 tour of New Zealand when the England No.8 – who missed it through injury – latched on to Sean O'Brien's criticism of Gatland's management style after the drawn series, and added fuel to the fire by saying that if Eddie Jones had been coach, “they would have won 3-0”.
My take on it is that if Gatland thought that big Billy would help the Lions to a series victory over South Africa this summer he would be in the squad, bar nothing.
The reality is that the England powerhouse had a lacklustre season whereas his Irish and Leinster counterpart Jack Conan has been outstanding, and when the squad was announced this week the Lions head coach gave a further cogent reason for his absence:
“With Sam Simmonds and Taulupe Faletau, we looked at No.8s and the way they can be explosive with footwork, and with Billy at the moment it is probably not quite there. I didn't see the same impact for England as we have seen in the past in terms of getting them over the gain-line and busting tackles.”
Gatland explained also that Vunipola's England rival Simmonds has an important point of difference. “If you tuck the ball under your arm and run straight, then South Africa love that sort of thing… He's quick, so we can run lots of variations, not just as a forward carrier, but like a back.”
Gatland's hunch is that the Boks would rather face power than pace, so let's speed it up.
