'They'll go after him': Vunipola warns Tuilagi of Samoa special attention

09/28/2023 07:04 AM

After suffering against Tonga in 2019, Billy Vunipola says his teammate can expect a target on his back against Samoa

Manu Tuilagi can expect a target on his back, his front and just about everywhere else when England complete their pool stage campaign against Samoa on Saturday week. Tuilagi is held in the highest regard in the country of his birth, having moved to the UK as a teenager, but as Billy Vunipola explains, it just comes with the territory when locking horns with the nation of your heritage.

And Vunipola speaks from experience. Four years ago in Japan, Vunipola was on the receiving end of a thunderous tackle from Zane Kapeli and was dumped on his backside. The celebrations on the Tongan bench were rapturous and though it is not born out of malice, Vunipola is expecting similar treatment in the coming weeks with England also on a collision course with Fiji in the quarter-finals.