Big Mak must do it again
MAKO VUNIPOLA heads into today’s re-run of last year’s Champions Cup final still puzzled about where he got the energy to put Clermont away back in May.
The Saracens prop was already out on his feet in last season’s decider at Murrayfield, as Alex Goode scored the settler for Sarries in a 28-17 win.
Clermont arrive at Allianz Park this afternoon for a heavyweight Pool 2 clash, with Vunipola knowing he will have to go through the agony again.
He recalled: “I looked up at the clock and there were still eight minutes left!
“I wondered how I was going to last. It was really tough but the try was one of those moments where I felt like we had broken the dam.
“When Alex scored I remember just how tired I was at that point.
“It just shows how much you have to work to grind down a team like Clermont because they are never out of the game.”
Sarries have promoted South African Schalk Burger to their starting XV because Maro Itoje is out with a busted jaw. Clermont field Sarries’ old boy David Strettle on the wing.
In Pool 3, English champs Exeter can put one foot in the last eight by beating Leinster at Sandy Park. Boss Rob Baxter recalls Henry Slade at centre.
At the Stoop, Harlequins, who have lost two from two, need to beat Ulster in Pool 1 to have any realistic hope of surviving. Quins have Marcus Smith back at fly-half but skipper James Horwill is out.
Wasps travel to La Rochelle in Pool 1, boosted by the return of club skipper Joe Launchbury.