England and Saracens back row Billy Vunipola suffers further injury scare

England and Saracens number eight Billy Vunipola has sustained a hamstring injury ahead of Saracens final Aviva Premiership game of the season.

Vunipola had played just one match, against London Irish on Sunday, since coming back from a broken arm and the latest setback lengthens the list of injuries he has sustained in the last three years.

Long-term shoulder and knee problems has kept Vunipola out of England duty for over a year.

Saracens head coach Mark McCall has confirmed that Vunipola will miss Saturday’s match against Gloucester, but he hopes that the 25-year-old will be available for the Aviva Premiership play-off semi-final against Newcastle or Wasps.

“[The hamstring] hasn’t been pulled or anything as far as I know,” McCall told BBC Sport.

“There are two and a half weeks until the semi-final, so all things considered it’s probably best he doesn’t play this weekend. If anyone has a hamstring tightness on Wednesday, it wouldn’t be the most sensible thing to play him [on Saturday].

“Maybe having not played rugby for a long time, these kind of things can happen quite easily.”

The latest injury has cast doubt on whether Vunipola will be fit for England’s tour of South Africa this summer.

Cover Photo: Twickenham Stadium by Alessio Bragadini used under license by CC BY-SA 2.0.