Steve Borthwick has been brutal In his short time in charge of England, dropping a number of major stars ahead of the 2023 Six Nations.
Below, we look at three established stars who are unlikely to win another cap under the current England boss.
#1. Billy Vunipola
Age: 30
Position: Number 8
Caps: 64
Borthwick excluded Powerhouse No8 Vunipola from the Six Nations squad, opting for Alex Dombrandt from Harlequins and Sam Simmons from Exeter as specialists.
Vunipola made a return to the England squad last summer under Eddie Jones and played in the autumn Test series.
However, in Borthwick’s first selection, he made significant changes, resulting in Vunipola being among several experienced players left out.
With Zach Mercer set to return to England this summer, yet another recall for Billy is starting to look very unlikely.
Appearing on The Rugby Pod, Andy Goode said: “This is the thing, pre-match doing the analysis, seven of that eight pack that monstered by France started every Six Nations game.
“Dombrandt, non-existent in the game, has been poor in the Six Nations. I look at the squad thinking, ‘You want some ballast, bring Billy back’.
“Billy ain’t there and I’m hearing the reasons around Billy not being involved in the Steve Borthwick squad is because they had a fallout. Had a fallout and Steve won’t pick him for that reason.
“From what I hear and understand it’s personal. Steve won’t pick Billy Vunipola because of what happened previously between them.”
DID YOU KNOW? He is the nephew of two other former international players, Manu and ‘Elisi Vunipola, who both represented Tonga in the 1990s