Billy Vunipola has said he must shoulder his share of the blame as England examine their desperate start to the Six Nations, admitting honest discussions are needed if they are to stay in the hunt for the title. Vunipola was far from alone in underperforming against Scotland last Saturday but his woes were compounded with a 23rd-minute yellow card for a high tackle. Both Jones and Vunipola have said the No 8 rediscovered his best form in the autumn but by his own admission he failed to make a dent in the resolute Scotland defence, carrying the ball just three times for a total of 10 metres. England will conduct a sweeping review this week before aiming to get their Six Nations campaign back on track against Italy on Saturday and Vunipola highlighted how they were crowned champions last year despite losing their opening match away against France. Before thoughts can turn to the latter stages of the competition, however, Vunipola admits the need for some home truths. “We are honest with each other and once you have that basis of honesty you can move on and improve,” he said. “We’ve only got a week to do it but that’s probably the best thing for us. I know Eddie’s taken a lot of the flak but it’s on us players to go out and perform and we didn’t. “I take a lot of the blame because a lot of my work is helping put the team on the front foot and I didn’t do that. That’s part of many things that make the team click and it just didn’t happen. I just didn’t put myself in the right positions. I’ll look at it and see where I can help the team achieve more. This happened last year but we managed to pull it back. It’s massive on all of us to get around each other and make sure whatever we have to fix we do it as soon as possible.” Meanwhile, Saracens will begin their Championship campaign away against Cornish Pirates on 6 March without Vunipola and their other England internationals after the Rugby Football Union confirmed the delayed fixture list. With London Scottish opting out after rejecting the option of a government loan, the previously planned conference system has been shelved with an 11-team league introduced. There had been fears more teams would opt out, given the cost of Covid-19 testing but, with all but one taking part, each club will have 10 fixtures – five home and five away – and a bye week before the top two contest a two-leg play-off final for promotion to the Premiership. Saracens will have their match against Ealing Trailfinders – their closest rivals for promotion who have beaten them twice in the past month in pre-season matches – at home in April and their bye week is during the Six Nations, meaning they will be without their England internationals for their opening two fixtures only.