England 'happy' to be 'public enemy number one'

Billy Vunipola came off the bench in England's narrow 18-17 win over Samoa on Saturday

England are "happy" to play the role of "public enemy number one" in Sunday's World Cup quarter-final against Fiji, says number eight Billy Vunipola.

Having won all of their pool games in France, England are expected to have a large following in Marseille.

But Fiji are likely to be backed by many neutrals after reaching the last eight for the first time since 2007.

Saracens forward Vunipola added: "In terms of being public enemy number one, we are happy to take that mantle."

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Fiji caused an upset win over Eddie Jones' Australia on their way to booking a spot in the quarter-finals, despite narrow defeats by Wales and Portugal.

Vunipola, 30, sat out England's opening Pool D victory over Argentina because of suspension, but returned from the bench against Japan before making his first start in the 71-0 thrashing of Chile.

His Sarries team-mate Ben Earl is likely to start against Fiji at number eight, having been selected there against the Pumas and Samoa.

"If I'm being honest, I would liked to have played some more games," said Vunipola after dropping back to the bench against Samoa.

"But saying that, the team I'm playing for are in the quarter-finals so I'm happy to be involved."

He added that there was "definitely an edge in training" with no margin for error in the knock-out stages.

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