FORMER Thornbury ace Billy Vunipola says he felt stressed and under pressure last November when his form dipped and he was dropped by England national coach Stuart Lancaster.
But now he says that is a thing of the past as he vies with Dursley number eight Ben Morgan to be first choice in Lancaster’s World Cup line-up, the team for the opener on Friday against Fiji is being announced late on Monday afternoon.
Morgan has only just got back into the playing mode after six months out with a broken leg sustained, ironically, when his Gloucester side played Vunipola’s Saracens last January and was named with the ex-Castle School, Thornbury, students Billy and his brother Mako Vunipola in the England squad for the upcoming World Cup.
But 22-year-old Billy has revealed how he had to fight his way back into Lancaster’s squad and how he has a new attitude to life.
Vunipola said, in the Mail on  Sunday: “It's about living in the moment and not worrying what people think. Otherwise you bring yourself down and put more weight on your shoulders, worrying about what people say and the pressure they put on you.
'At times last year, I felt stressed and under pressure the whole time. I was taking that home with me. 
“That's gone now and I'm excited about the World Cup and beyond. It seems like people have been talking about it for ages and the closer it gets the more nerve-wracking it gets. 
“But I'm definitely up for it. What I went through last November is very much in the past now.
“I guess people give credit to those who stand up after they've been knocked down and I guess that's what I did.”