The man who single-handedly destroyed Ireland last year looks set to return on Paddy’s weekend

Damn, we thought he was ruled out.

Last week, Billy Vunipola gave an interview to the English media where he stated he "probably won't make the Ireland game". Irish fans breathed a huge sigh of relief as the memories of his destructive performance against Ireland in Twickenham last year are still firmly ingrained into the memory. We hate to remind you of that but to be fair, it was an incredible performance from the 24-year-old. If you think back to Ireland's 21-10 defeat to England at Twickenham this time last year, Vunipola caused Ireland all sorts of problems and Joe Schmidt's team just couldn't live with his explosive ball-carrying. Here are the stats Vunipola posted that day:

• Metres Made - 93
• Carries - 17
• Defenders Beaten - 9
• Clean Line Breaks - 1
• Tackles - 8

So it's clear to see that the powerful 24-year-old was a key reason for England's victory. The BBC are reporting that Vunipola is recovering quicker than expected from the knee injury which he suffered in November. The powerful No.8 could make his return for Saracens in this weekend's clash against the Newcastle Falcons at Kingston Park and looks set to feature either in England's Calcutta Cup clash with Scotland or a potential Championship decider against Ireland at the Aviva Stadium on Paddy's weekend. If Ireland are going to beat Eddie Jones' side on the final day of this year's championship then Schmidt will have to come up with some sort of plan to stop the bulldozing back row.