England and Saracens number eight believes that the main reason that England were so disappointing in their World Cup campaign was because they have not gelled as a side properly.
The 22-year-old, who missed England’s last two games in the World Cup through injury, claims that he has a much better relationship with his domestic teammates than he does with his national side.
Julian Bennetts, writing for The Telegraph, reports that Vunipola pins England’s World Cup upset on their lack of team spirit. Stuart Lancaster kept his players under much stricter regulations than in previous tournaments and Vunipola believes that this contributed to the lack of enjoyment that the players felt when playing together.
“It’s a tough 12 weeks that we spent together, the best way to bond is when you go out to the pub, have a drink and break down barriers.
“You want to get to know someone on a deeper level than that because when you are on the pitch, it helps.”
Vunipola argues that he shares a much closer bond with his Saracens teammates than he does with any of the current England squad, which played a part in their lacklustre performances.
“I say that because when we play at Saracens that’s what we do. It might look like a fun, jolly time but we build our memories together, we build bonds and bridges.
“That’s something we could have done a little bit better, but I had a great time with the team. I got to know a lot of people very well, I would have liked to get to know them better, not only that but their family and friends.”
Vunipola claims that England would have performed much better in their own World Cup if they had a greater team understanding and had a relationship amongst the entire squad.
“That’s something that’s very important to me, I’m a very emotional player and I like to know who my team-mate is on a deeper level than just who his name is and who he plays for.”
England became the first ever host nation not to progress from the group stage following defeats to Wales and Australia, although they did recuperate some pride with a 60-3 win over Uruguay.
Looking ahead to the next World Cup, England will no doubt take on board Vunipola’s comments and try to create a greater team chemistry to help the entire squad play as a unit for each other.
