‘We’ve got nowhere to hide’: Mako Vunipola urges England to strike back

England’s players have been told they have “nowhere to hide” as they look to banish the pain of their first Test defeat last Saturday and salvage their Australian tour. The experienced prop Mako Vunipola also believes the touring side need to reproduce the defensive heroics that helped to clinch the 2016 series against the Wallabies if they are to stay in the best-of-three series.

Vunipola, now 31, is one of a handful of players who featured in the tense second Test in Melbourne six years ago when a memorable defensive display earned a 23-7 victory against the hosts. This time, though, England are 1-0 down in the series and desperate to atone for their below-par performance in Perth.

“There’s no tomorrow for us now,” said Vunipola, back in England’s matchday squad after more than a year’s absence. “We’ve got our backs against the wall and we’ve got to go out and give it all we’ve got. We’ve got nowhere to hide. The Test series is on the line and we know we can still win it. It’s time to show what we’re about as a team. We need to put in a performance we can be proud of.”

Like every other squad member Vunipola found defeat in the first Test against 14 men difficult to take. “You are always wounded when you lose and, mentally, a lot of us were struggling on Saturday night. Credit to them but we had opportunities to put them away and we didn’t do that. We need to take it to them more because we only did that for parts of the last game.”

Vunipola is also aware from touring with the British & Irish Lions in 2017 and 2021 that winning the opening game of a three-Test series is no guarantee of eventual success. It is the kind of situation he relishes and the 2016 tour remains high among his favourite rugby experiences.

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