Vunipola limped off during the first half of England’s 13-10 win over Ireland at the weekend and a scan has since revealed ligament damage.
The 21-year-old Saracens star suffered the setback when tackled by Ireland’s Leinster lock Devin Toner and Ulster back row Chris Henry with 36 minutes played at Twickenham and will now miss the remainder of the Championship as a result.
“It is a blow as Billy has had a good Six Nations, but he is young and will be back,” said England head coach Stuart Lancaster. “The encouraging thing is we have got Ben Morgan and other back rows such as Matt Kvesic and Tom Johnson.”
The news means at least one part of a special family reunion won’t take place in South West London as Wales No8 Taulupe Faletau won’t be going head-to-head with his cousin. Faletau and Vunipola lived together for a time while growing up in Wales and facing each other on the international stage would have been a huge moment for both men.
Faletau could still face one cousin in Round 4, though, with Billy’s brother Mako expected to be named among the English replacements. The pair toured Hong Kong and Australia together with the British & Irish Lions and were on opposing sides when Wales won the reverse fixture convincingly in Cardiff last year.
The absence of Billy Vunipola is likely to see former Scarlets regular Ben Morgan promoted to the starting XV against Wales and then against Italy, with the 25-year-old having come off the bench in all three of England’s tournament games so far.
Morgan made a half century of appearances for the Scarlets between 2009 and 2012 before joining former Scarlets boss Nigel Davies at Gloucester.
