England vs Australia: Billy Vunipola ‘very likely’ to start Rugby World Cup quarter-final against Wallabies

Billy Vunipola is “very likely” to start Saturday’s Rugby World Cup quarter-final, handing England a major boost ahead of their showdown with Australia.

The No 8 is on course to recover from the ankle injury he suffered against Argentina two weekends ago to retain his place in the starting line-up, meaning the forward is in line to make his 13th consecutive start for England in this weekend’s opening last-eight fixture.

Assistant coach John Mitchell said that he is confident Vunipola will be available for the Walalbies clash, adding that the 26-year-old was back in training as he goes through the final stages of his rehabilitation.

“Billy is progressing really well,” Mitchell said. “He has trained again today so we are very confident in his progression each day.

“He is a very important player to us and a very likeable player as well. He fits well within the team.”

It means that England could name an unchanged starting XV for the first time at the World Cup, with Joe Marler fit again to feature at prop in contention with Mako Vunipola and Ellis Genge.

But Eddie Jones is likely to make a change on the bench given that Jack Nowell once again missed training on Tuesday, with the hamstring injury that he suffered on his return to action set to force him into another week on the sidelines – the sixth England match that he will miss out of the last seven.

“Jack wasn’t at training,” Mitchell added. “He is on another prescription of training and he is also progressing, so again as we go through the week, it will give us more of a chance of where he stands in terms of selection.”

Should Nowell be ruled out of contention on Wednesday, Jonathan Joseph is likely to come into the matchday squad, providing cover for the wing despite Joe Cokanasiga and Ruaridh McConnochie the other options in the squad.

It means that 30 England players were fit to train in Beppu ahead of the match in Oita, given Jones a healthy number to select from ahead of their biggest challenge at the World Cup so far.

As a result, the head coach has brought in reinforcements to his backroom staff this week in the form of rugby league great Ricky Stewart, with the Australian in attendance for the first time to take in their training session and offer his thoughts on both sides of the ball thanks to his extensive knowledge in the 13-man game.

"Ricky and his coaching group have just arrived today. It's great to see them again,” said Mitchell. "One of the great things I believe Eddie does in our environment is very much encourage a learning environment. Ricky is not the only coach from rugby league or any other sport that has come in. We have them on a regular basis and so at the end of the day we want to see what we are doing that can be improved and we like to learn off others and that's the great opportunity we have.

"It's just a watching, learning and sharing process that occurs, to get somebody in we can share and learn off and create a stimulus around. They've just recently played in one of the major rugby league competitions in the world [NRL grand final], you'd be stupid if you weren't able to gain something from that."