Saracens coach Ian Peel has revealed Mako Vunipola is getting stronger every day as the loosehead bids to prove his fitness ahead of the 2019 Rugby World Cup.
“Mako’s been doing some training and when I spoke to one of the England coaches, he’s in good form and getting stronger,” revealed Peel to The Rugby Paper.
“He’ll be there or thereabouts and because of the way he plays – not just his set-piece – England need him because his ability on and off the ball is huge.
“He’s definitely a huge asset to any team and that goes for all of our guys who are currently competing for those World Cup places.”
England flies to Japan on 8 September and play their opening match against Tonga two weeks later.
Even if the 28-year-old’s recovery follows the best case scenario he will be forced to miss two of the four warm-up matches, home and away against Wales, leaving the 24 August and 6 September clashes with Ireland and Italy as possible opportunities to gain match fitness.