Billy Vunipola’s hopes of an injury‑free end to the season have suffered another setback after the Saracens No 8 pulled up with a hamstring problem at training on Wednesday, having only just returned to action after a broken arm ruled him out of the Six Nations.
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England, who are due to name their tour squad for South Africa next week, now face another uncomfortable wait to discover whether Vunipola will be at full bore for the three-Test series.
There could also be implications for Saracens’ title push although the director of rugby, Mark McCall, remains hopeful the latest problem could yet turn out to be a minor inconvenience.
“Billy just felt some tightness,” McCall said. “It is not pulled or anything, he was just being sensible. He has looked great in training, looked good against London Irish and trained well with us on Tuesday in a lighter session.
“The common sense thing to do was to pull out of the session, which he did. If we have to scan it we will. That’s likely to happen. We would not play him if we thought that he would pull a hamstring.”
The club have a two-week break before their Aviva Premiership semi-final against either Wasps or Newcastle on 19 May.
Including his 20-minute contribution off the bench against Irish on Sunday, Vunipola has played only 249 minutes of rugby all season.
The 25-year-old, who has had to battle his way back from shoulder and knee injuries, has not played for England for more than a year and was also forced to pull out of the British & Irish Lions tour to New Zealandlast summer.
But McCall has dismissed any notion of the club advising the player not to tour South Africa.
With Manu Tuilagi finding it similarly hard to stay fit for long enough to merit an international recall and Dylan Hartley, Courtney Lawes, George Kruis, Nathan Hughes and Jonathan Joseph already out of the trip this summer, England’s management will be keeping their fingers crossed that their injury list does not lengthen any further. Bath are also recommending that the flanker Sam Underhill stay at home and losing the services of Vunipola would further test England’s back‑row depth.