Billy Vunipola believes he let down England at last year's World Cup

Billy Vunipola believes he let down England at last year's World Cup

England loose forward Billy Vunipola believes that he let down England at last year's World Cup and has even failed to offer enough support to brother Mako Vunipola.

Vunipola revealed that he has spoken to members of England's World Cup squad, that reached the final only to be beaten by South Africa, over several "personal" issues, saying only that his "head was in the clouds" for parts of the tournament in Japan.

The 27-year-old has now admitted to several shortcomings in his personal conduct and also conceded he has been at pains to improve his relationship with brother and England and Saracens team-mate Mako.

 

"I always looked to blame someone else or something else and I finally realised, when I spoke to my parents, that I need to take ownership," Vunipola told Sky Sports.

"Those guys never lie to me. It was hard to look at myself and it took a while, maybe two or three weeks to think.


"It took me a while to realise that my parents are right, basically 100 per cent of the time. It just took me longer.

"My head was in the clouds and I didn't want to take ownership for things that I did. It's hard to admit it sometimes and tell people around you that you are wrong.


"There were things that happened in the vicinity of the team when we were away (in Japan) and I have talked to people that I guess it affected and that was personal between me and them, and them and me.

 
"I would like to keep it that way. But the people I needed to talk to I talked to about it."
 
 
 

When questioned if he had discussed any of his concerns with brother Mako, Billy Vunipola said he had admitted to his sibling that he had not offered enough support in the past.

 

"I definitely hope I can have a better relationship with my brother now," said Vunipola.

"What kind of happened before was a lot of negativity, we were very competitive with each other.

"But maybe we didn't support each other as best we could, and that is definitely something I felt I didn't do for my brother.

 
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