England and Saracens rugby player Billy Vunipola has announced he and his wife, Simmone, are expecting their first child together.

The couple married just a few months before Vunipola headed to the World Cup in Japan last year.

“We’re expecting our first little kid on November 1,” he told The Good, The Bad and The Rugby podcast.

“I haven’t told many people. We are pretty far along, I think my biggest worry was I’d be here telling everyone and then something bad happens.”

He then said they do not yet know the sex of the baby.

“We are going to find out when she gives birth. My biggest thing was in Tongan culture you kind of give naming rights to your parents, so I didn’t want to tell them if it was a boy or a girl because they’ll come over and say ‘oh how’s whatever name they have given it’.

“And also it’s a good surprise.”

He added he is already training himself for losing sleep.

"We are going to start [shopping for things] next month, like I said I didn’t want to get too far ahead of myself. Now we have had the 28 week scan, now we are going to get into it.

"I’m pretty pumped, I’ve grown up with a lot of kids in the house, whether they’re babies, toddlers, my little cousins. I think the one thing I am worried about is my sleep, I sleep through a lot of things.

“Apparently my wife has got up a lot for midnight snacks and I haven’t [woken] up. I’m hoping I’ll do the morning shifts, I’ve been getting up at 6-6.30 to try and prepare myself but I’ve been trying to put in little things for me to be better at when the baby does come.”