BULLDOZER BILLY IS THE GREIGHTEST
Team-mates hail strong man Vunipola as he leads Sarries to European glory
BILLY VUNIPOLA addressed his Saracens teammates on Friday and promised that he would rise to the grandest occasion and propel them to another European conquest. The next day, having talked the talk, he walked the walk.
So many men made outstanding contributions to the London club’s third triumph in the continent’s blue-riband event, but it was the England No 8 who was the stand-out force of nature. The younger Vunipola brother has spent the last month in the eye of a storm, and he responded by blowing away a magnificent Leinster team.
His decisive try, 13 minutes from time, capped a stunning display of carries and intercepts, tackles and deft passes. From the base of a scrum in the opposition 22, the 26-year- old picked up, blasted through four defenders and had enough strength left to stretch and score. Soon after, big Billy went off with a sore shoulder. He had done what he said he would do.
‘He showed a lot of character,’ said Maro Itoje (below). ‘He is a tough, strong guy. On Friday, he spoke about when it’s his turn to show up for the team. He told us he was going to show up and he did that in abundance. Billy always steps up in the big games. He does it when we need it.’ By his own admission, Vunipola was not operating at a personal peak during the Six Nations. He was still regaining the confidence to hurl himself into collisions after a long spell of injury trouble, including shoulder and knee operations and fractures to both arms. At St James’ Park, he was back in vintage 2016 mode, as a worldclass asset to his club. England will be genuine World Cup contenders with this weapon of mass destruction at the base of their scrum. ‘He’s the best No 8 in the world for me,’ said England hooker Jamie George. ‘He just seems to be getting better and better with every big game that he plays in. ‘He’s so solid and takes everything in his stride.’ Richard Wigglesworth paid tribute to the way Vunipola seized the moment to score his try — not just the execution of it, but the awareness he showed. ‘He was immense,’ said the scrum- half. ‘For that finish, he told me to get wide but they weren’t interested in me and he still managed to finish it. He knew what he wanted to do and he delivered.’
There was self-deprecation from the man of the moment who said: ‘Our generals and our backs put us in the right areas and all we do as forwards is run as hard as we can and try to break down the brick wall.
‘We are human beings, we can get slack and there is no point me saying, “I want to be the best in the world” every single day because that would be a lie. I am going to have a good night now with my friends and family, then we’ll look to Worcester next week and see if we can beat them.
‘We were in this position two years ago and I missed out on a Lions tour. So for me, it is about making sure I recover well and get in the right frame of mind for the remaining games.’
Saracens have a Double in their sights and such was the majesty of their comeback on Tyneside, after finding themselves 10-0 and a man down, it will be a monumental feat for Exeter or Gloucester or anyone else to deny them their destiny.
‘That’s the best feeling I’ve ever had on a rugby field,’ said George. ‘The season that we’ve had, the amount of outside negativity that we’ve had… it just goes to show that if we stay tight as a group, we can do anything. It’s us versus the world and that’s fine by us.’
This circling of the wagons in north London and Hertfordshire was in part a response to the recent criticism of the younger Vunipola after his ill- advised social media outburst in support of disgraced Australia full-back, Israel Folau. It was also a response to Sportsmail’s allegations of potential breaches of the Premiership salary cap, now the subject of a major investigation.
But in this context, in Europe, this does not need to be an achievement with an asterisk attached. There is no cap in this tournament. French clubs have far higher budgets — that is how Toulon came to win three successive titles. Saracens deserve huge credit for developing a champion team of their own and ending an era of Irish and Gallic dominance.
After a week when English football celebrated continental successes, George suggested that what his team had done should be a cause for national pride.
‘We’re an English club with a lot of English, home-grown players,’ he said. ‘ Success in Europe doesn’t come easily. Not many teams have won it so for us to do it three times now is a pretty impressive feat.’
He is right. What Saracens have done is incredibly impressive. These are historic heights of glory. Champions in 2016, 2017 and now in 2019. LEINSTER: Kearney 7; Larmour 6, Ringrose 5, Henshaw 7, Lowe, 6; Sexton 6, McGrath 6; Healy 7, Cronin 6 (Tracy 51, 6), Furlong 6.5 (Bent 70, 5); Toner 6 (Deegan 74, 5), Ryan 7; Fardy 6, Conan 6, O’Brien 7. SARACENS: Goode 7; Williams 8, Lozowski 9, Barritt 8.5, Maitland 6.5; Farrell 8, Spencer 6.5 (Wigglesworth 56, 7); M Vunipola 6.5 (Koch 29, 8), George 8, Lamositele 6 (Barrington 29, 7); Skelton 8 (Isiekwe 62, 6), Kruis 8; Itoje 7, B VUNIPOLA 9.5 (Burger 75, 5), Wray 8. Referee: Jerome Garces (Fra).
Attendance: 51,930.