Vunipola leads Saracens to third European title
NEWCASTLE, United Kingdom: A 67th minute try by England’s controversial No. 8 Billy Vunipola earned Saracens a third European Champions Cup title in four years with a 20- 10 win over Leinster on Saturday.
Issued with an official warning by the English RFU and by his London club after an Instagram post in support of a homophobic posting by Australia full- back Israel Folau, Vunipola held off a trio of defenders to claim the decisive score of a heavyweight clash that did not disappoint in front of a capacity 51,930 St James’ Park crowd.
Leinster, seeking a record fifth title, grafted hard to build a 100 lead approaching half- time thanks to a try by loosehead prop Tadhg Furlong and a penalty and conversion by their stand- off and captain Johnny Sexton.
With their backs against the wall, though, Saracens drew level by the interval with ten points in the last two minutes of the half, thanks to a penalty by fly- half Owen Farrell and an injury time try by Scotland winger Sean Maitland, converted by Farrell.
It proved to be the platform for the English champions to become the fourth team to complete a hat-trick of Champions Cup wins, following Toulouse, Leinster and Toulon.
“It’s a great victory. This is a group that have been through a lot – good and bad – and they want to work hard for each other,” said Saracens coach Mark McCall.
“We were 10- 0 down against a quality team so this is a massive win.”
Leinster skipper and fly- half star Johnny Sexton admitted it was a game of small margins.
“We had a couple of chances,” he said. “It’s always the way when you lose you look back on little things. I felt a few little decisions didn’t go our way.”
Despite the contest being played on English soil, Leinster’s huge band of followers turned St James’ Park into a deafening home from home.
The travelling Dubliners saw their beloved team take a third minute lead, Sexton nailing his first penalty after the Saracens defence had strayed offside.
Saracens got within touching distance of the Leinster tryline with a 19th minute attack from the back of a scrum by Brad Barritt and Vunipola but Barritt, their inside centre and captain, was penalised for using his shoulder in an attempted clear out directly in front of the posts.
It took a brilliant break by Rob Kearney to open some daylight. Stepping off one foot, then the other, the 2012 European player of the year made 20 metres and had Saracens desperately scrambling.
Leinster’s Kiwi wing James Lowe was thwarted by a superbly- timed tackle by Liam Williams in the left corner, then prop Cian Healy almost burrowed over in front of the posts, referee Jerome Garces consulting video evidence on.