Mako Vunipola started the 2012/2013 season without starting a Premiership game - he will finish it by being a British and Irish Lion.

It would be safe to say that it has been a remarkable campaign for the Saracens’ prop.

For those on the outside, they might have been a little surprised at the 22-year-old’s inclusion in the squad; after all, he was second choice to Harlequins’ Joe Marler throughout England’s 6 Nations campaign.

But to those who have seen him play week in week out, the call-up is nothing more than he deserves.

His talent and strengths within the game are obvious for all to see.

When Allianz Park was being sold as a faster playing surface, encouraging running rugby, none of us would have imagined one of the biggest beneficiaries to be a 20 stone plus prop but Mako has excelled since Sarries’ move to their new Barnet home.

Since the switch from Vicarage Road, Saracens’ very own smooth operator has crossed the white wash on a total of three occasions, including his effort against Bath in the last game of the regular season which was a finish that even the world’s finest wingers would have been proud of.

However, he doesn’t just score them for himself. In the same game he would have put Chris Ashton in for a try in the corner had his sublime offload not been judged to be a fraction forward by the Television Match Official.

One of Mako’s supposed weaknesses is his ability in the scrum, but at such a young age and with only a season of regular rugby under his belt, this will only improve.

The Lions tour will give him the opportunity, more likely than not as an impact player, to show off the more developed aspects of his game on the firm grounds of Australia.

It will also let him learn from props in the primes of their careers as well as continuing his ever-growing partnership with Lions and Saracens’ team mate and fellow member of the front row union Matt Stevens.

The 2013/2014 season will provide a completely different challenge for Mako, starting the campaign as someone who has represented the best Britain and Ireland have to offer compared to the relative unknown with huge amounts of potential that he was the year before.

It will also see him united with his not so little brother Number 8, Billy, who joins from London Wasps, and the sight of the two joining forces will terrify oppositions.

It may have been close to the dream debut season in the starting line-up for Mako, but it was essentially one that finished without silverware for Saracens, something that both Vunipola brothers and the rest of the squad will want to put right in the near future.

There is no doubting however that at just 22 the future is blindingly bright for Mako, a future that will hopefully see more try celebrations, accolades, honours and silverware.