Saracens Director of rugby Mark McCall has revealed that England number 8 Billy Vunipola is in the best shape “for a long time”.
“He has got the bit between his teeth and he is as fit as I have seen him for a long time,” said McCall.
“His leadership during the course of the pre-season when other senior players have not been here has been wonderful so we are looking forward to seeing him get stuck in.
“He is exactly the weight we want him to be, he has trained really hard and not had any hiccups in pre-season. He can hit the ground running now.”
McCall said he had not spoken to Vunipola about missing out on the Lions for some time.
“I am not sure he definitely is [over missing Lions],” he said. “I haven’t talked to him a lot about it over the past couple of months. I know he was hugely disappointed not to go and sometimes those things take time to get over.”
1. Jonathan Davies
Less Guinness and more hard work has seen the former Wales star transform himself during lockdown. He looks incredible!
2. Matt Dunning
When he was a prop for the Wallabies Matt Dunning weighed 130kg and was constantly mocked for his tubby frame. But since retiring from rugby union the 35-year-old has lost a staggering 40kg, dropping from 25 per cent body fat to just 11 per cent in six months.
3. Sam Warburton
The former Wales flanker worked his arse off to become one of the best players in the world with a body to match. He's now set up the
SW7 Academy
, which is an online training program that he's created in collaboration with his long-term training partner, Josh Davies. With more than 30 years of elite-level training experience between them, they know what’s required to maximise athletic performance.
4. Luther Burrell
The centre missed out on Eddie Jones’ first squad for the Six Nations Grand Slam triumph in 2016 with the Aussie labelling him “grossly overweight”.
He revealed his incredible body transformation online yesterday saying in the caption…
‘Putting a picture up like this for me was very challenging and potentially very embarrassing. It can sometimes put you in a vulnerable position…. So I seriously can’t thank everyone enough for contacting me, showing interest in my continued journey and also being kind I’m still smashing through messages, so please bare with me if I haven’t yet got back to you. •’
5. David Pocock
The Wallabies legend started out as an skinny 78kg teen who worked day in and day out to transform himself, with his size and strength came at a cost, Pocock told
Australian Story.
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