London: England prop Mako Vunipola may join brother Billy on the sidelines for the Six Nations after Saracens director of rugby Mark McCall revealed his left knee injury could be serious.
Vunipola, whose younger sibling and backrow forward Billy underwent knee surgery in November, damaged ligaments in his knee in a European Champions Cup clash against fellow English side Sale last weekend.
McCall, who guided Saracens to European and domestic success last term, didn’t definitively rule out the older Vunipola from the Six Nations — England begin the defence of their Grand Slam against France on February 4 — but his prognosis was not good.
“It’s not looking good (for Mako) to be honest,” said McCall following Saracens’ 21-6 victory over Newcastle on Saturday which kept them atop the Premiership standings.
“He’s got to go and see his consultant in four weeks’ time, and then we will determine how long he will actually be out.
“We have to let the injury settle down as much as possible to have any idea because otherwise you are just guessing.
“It’s a big blow to lose Billy and then Mako.
“Both are such important players or us.
“We were going to lose them for the Six Nations but to lose them in the run-up to that is so disappointing.”
New Zealand-born Mako Vunipola, 25, has been an integral part of coach Eddie Jones’ 13-match winning streak this year. He played in every Six Nations match as well as starting each of the summer Tests — a historic 3-0 whitewash of the Australians in Australia — and the recent games against South Africa, Fiji, Argentina and the Wallabies.
If Mako Vunipola fails to regain fitness Joe Marler is his most likely replacement in the starting XV.
Former England wing Chris Ashton scored a try on his comeback after a long suspension for biting as he helped Saracens to a big victory.
Saracens top the table on 42 points level with Wasps, for whom prolific wing Christian Wade scored a hat-trick of tries, taking his tally for the year to 18, in a crowd-pleasing 40-26 win over third-placed Bath.
Exeter went fourth with an impressive 31-10 win over Leicester, former Tigers No8 Thomas Waldrom showing no room for sentiment against his old club by scoring a brace of tries to take his tally to eight for the season.
Ashton, who is to leave for French club Toulon at the end of the season, came on in the second half and the 29-year-old ensured he left his mark after the 13-week suspension with a try against struggling Newcastle.
“It is good to have Chris (Ashton) back in the team and scoring tries,” said Saracens director of rugby Mark McCall.
“It wasn’t the best game for him to come back for but he got his name on the scoresheet.
