The reason why Eddie Jones exiled Saracens back-rower Billy Vunipola

Reports suggest that Eddie Jones won't be calling upon the Saracens powerhouse anymore after running out of patience with his number of injuries and negative attitude around the camp. The Aussie denied that his omission is down to age, insisting Vunipola 'needed to find a better version of himself' with Jones simply looking for more 'enthusiasm' from his current squad.

Wasps wing turned NFL hopeful also opened up about his one phone call from 'awkward' Eddie Jones during a recent interview with The Telegraph.

"He wanted me to work on the stuff I was already good at, already smashing. I obviously said to him ‘yeah, that’s what I’m doing and will continue to do’,

"But it wasn’t very informative, you know what I’m saying? How do I get in the team, what’s the purpose of this call? It was almost like he called me so that when I spoke to the media I could say he had called me.

"Before there wasn’t really much chat, but I guess at the time there was pressure on him because of the performances I was putting in. It was almost a courtesy call. I’d rather if you have nothing to say, just don’t call me. 

"I think I should be in the team, if you don’t think that then that’s fine, but just be straight up. Say what it is, I’m not picking you for whatever reason, or if you don’t want to say why then just don’t call me and let me get on with it."

Brown revealed in his column recently: ‘I’d had one of my best seasons for Quins (2018/19) with really good attacking stats (2019), but Eddie had pigeon-holed me as a defensive full-back. At the end of this meeting, he asked if I had anything I wanted to say.

“I challenged his comments that I was just a defensive full-back, saying I thought I had been adding value to the attack, with examples and stats from my season, before saying I would take away all of his points and that I would do everything I could to get into the World Cup squad.

“He did not like that I had contested what he said and went mad. He shouted: ‘Well you lost the f****** ball in contact on Saturday, didn’t you? That’s f****** not good enough. You’re not f****** doing everything you can.'”

Ultimately, Brown wouldn’t be picked for the Rugby World Cup with Jones saying that his clash with teammate Ben Te’o had nothing to do with his omission. He’s not been picked since.

DID YOU KNOW? He married long term partner, fashion designer Eliza Scarlett Woodcock, the daughter of former England international footballer Tony Woodcock in 2016

Jones wrote in his autobiography that the Sarries legend ‘could not match the pace and snarl of his long-term rival Mike Brown.’ 

However, according to Brown’s column for the Mail Online, Goode clashed with Jones over this opinion in a heated discussion which led to him being jarsj frozen out of the squad after 2016.

The fullback would never win a recall despite being named the 2019 European Player of the Year.

DID YOU KNOW? He is the nephew of Jo Goode, who won an Olympic bronze in Badminton in Sydney.

Kiwi-born England hooker Dylan Hartley recalled Marland Yarde arriving at England’s Pennyhill base, “a bit bruised and battered” after a club game.

“Eddie greeted him with a bright ‘How are you feeling, mate?’ and the conversation quickly went downhill. ‘Oh, a bit tired.’ ‘F… off, mate.’ ‘What?’ ‘If you’re tired, f… off. I don’t want tired players here.’ As you can imagine, their cosy fireside chat echoed around the halls within minutes.”

He never played for England again.