"Previous fallout" - Steve Borthwick gives decisive update on Billy Vunipola's England future

The hierarchy among England's back-row players remains uncertain as Sam Simmonds, representing Exeter, has withdrawn himself from World Cup contention due to personal reasons before his transfer to Montpellier.

Despite being initially left out of the Six Nations squad in January due to a disagreement, Vunipola is now viewed by the head coach as an integral part of the squad's strategy.

Although Vunipola is still in the process of recovering from a knee injury that prematurely ended his season in April, Borthwick anticipates his readiness for play in August.

This timing aligns with England's four pre-tournament warm-up fixtures, setting the stage for Vunipola's potential participation.

“He’s certainly part of our plans as we go forward,”

Borthwick said. “He’s been an important player for England for a number of seasons and I think he has the potential to be an important player for England.”

The hierarchy among England's back-row players remains uncertain as Sam Simmonds, representing Exeter, has withdrawn himself from World Cup contention due to personal reasons before his transfer to Montpellier.

Get your tickets to the Rugby World Cup matches at viagogo, the world’s leading ticket marketplace. Find out how by clicking here.

The trimmed-down England centre has lost 6-8kgs after ending his guilty pleasure of binging on food.

Heading into last summer, Tuilagi tipped the scales at 114kg (17-stone 9lbs), but has lost eight kgs since.

Pictured in Marbella with Sale teammates, Tuilagi has added a defined six pack to his brute force.

One fan wrote: "That’s 100% photoshopped,"

Another commented: "Tuilagi was always a beast, but now he's shredded too."

“I love my food. It is a mentality thing, you probably think you will be alright and you will get through it, until you think about it and you change your mentality. 

“Running around for 80 minutes, those 2kgs can weigh you down quite a bit so we thought, lose a bit of weight and that would allow us to be a bit more mobile, a bit more agile.”

Below, we look at five other rugby stars who transformed their bodies to get themselves into top condition.

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.

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…

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.

He looks amazing.

Rugby fans cannot believe Richie McCaw's body transformation as the All Blacks legend showed off he has lost muscle mass since hanging up his boots.

Since retiring, the double World Cup-winner has become obsessed with ultra-hardcore marathons and has shifted a lot of that weight to give him a speed advantage.

The 41-year-old, who weighed 107 kg, is now closer to 87kg since dropping the weight.

For context, that's a weight drop of over three stone.