But his brother Billy appears to be losing his race to be fit for the end of the tournament. The No8 will join up with the party but only to be assessed by England medics.
The pair both suffered knee injuries before Christmas but Mako proved his well being in Saracens’ 31-23 defeat at Gloucester last Friday.
The 26-year-old’s ball-carrying has been sorely missed by England in opening wins over France and Wales and head coach Eddie Jones could not get him back quick enough, but Billy revealed at the weekend he will not make the Ireland finale on 18 March.
With neither Matt Mullan nor Ellis Genge included in the 28-man training group, Vunipola Snr is set to play some part this weekend and is in competition with Joe Marler to start at loose-head prop.
Leicester flanker Mike Williams is in and could make a late bid for a bench spot with Jones set to name his team on Friday as England bid for a 17th win on the spin.
RICHARD COCKERILL’S brief exile in France will finish in the summer when he takes over as head coach of Edinburgh next season.
Cockerill, sacked by Leicester last month, has been acting as consultant to Toulon in the French Top 14.
Sale director of rugby Steve Diamond will appear in front of an RFU disciplinary panel tomorrow night. Diamond is accused of abusing match officials after Sale’s 13-10 win over Harlequins in the Anglo-Welsh Cup on February 3.
Former Northampton flanker Phil Dowson, now at Worcester, is set to retire at the end of the season and return to Franklin’s Gardens as an assistant coach. The 35-year-old played 187 times for Saints in a six-year stint from 2009 to 2015.
