Vunipola building confidence after broken arm

Billy Vunipola admitted he was still short of having full confidence on the rugby field after returning from the broken arm he suffered against Glasgow Warriors. 

The Saracens number eight made a try-scoring comeback in last week’s Premiership loss to Sale Sharks after spending three months on the sidelines.

Vunipola – who has suffered the same injury several times – conceded that his approach in that match had been tentative, but the England international is hoping to produce a more characteristic display in Sunday’s European Champions Cup clash with Lyon.

“I’ve been training for a few weeks now so to finally get out there and play was awesome, but I’ve done a few of these [types of injury] now recently, so this is probably the most anxious I’ve been. That probably showed at Sale; hopefully this weekend I can be better,” he told Sarries’ official website.

“I’m just starting to build up that confidence again in everything I do, even the small things like using my arms to get up off the ground. 

“Once you’ve gone through a few injuries it can play on your mind so I’m hoping this week I can get closer to my best.”

Highlights | @SaleSharksRugby 24-18 Saracens 

It wasn’t to be on Friday night but don’t forget it was great to see @bvunipola back in action reminding us all of what we’ve missed! 

Full highlights  https://t.co/YHwWaJYe02 pic.twitter.com/AwIAPqEMLV

— Saracens Rugby Club (@Saracens) January 7, 2019

Mark McCall’s side have won four from four in Pool 3 and face a Lyon side who have failed to pick up a point, but Vunipola expects a tough test in France. 

“This week is about trying to focus on the job in hand, which is to beat a good Lyon team away on their own patch,” he said.

“That’s always hard with French teams as they take a lot of pride in their home ground, so I guess we don’t need much more motivation than that.

“Maybe if we kid ourselves and think that we’ll be okay if we just think about ourselves we’re likely to slip up. We need to turn out with the right attitude from everyone, focus on our jobs at hand but also be ready for a scrap.”

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