MAKO VUNIPOLA HAS been named in the Saracens team to play against Leicester tomorrow, just days after England told him not to come into their camp, over fears surrounding the Coronavirus.
Vunipola returned home to England from Tonga via Hong Kong last week, and as a result, the RFU’s medical team took the precautionary measure of asking him not to come into their camp.
This follows guidelines from UK medical experts who suggest people who have travelled from Hong Kong should self-isolate if they are showing flu-like symptoms. Saracens have tested Vunipola all week and he is symptom free.
Tomorrow’s game, against the Tigers, will be his first for the club in two months.
England assistant coach, Steve Borthwick, told the BBC: “Our medical team looks at our team environment, not other people’s.
“Mako didn’t come into camp on the advice of our medical team, who looked into the situation closely and as a precaution they advised us that the best thing for our environment was for him not to come in.”
Vunipola, however, is one of nine changes to a Saracens side for tomorrow’s game against Leicester.
Saracens: Gallagher; Segun, Morris, Barritt (capt), Lewington; Manu Vunipola, Wigglesworth; Mako Vunipola, Woolstencroft, Koch; Skelton, Kpoku, Isiekwe, Reffell, Clark.