The Saracens confirmed that Billy and Mako Vunipola would leave the club at the end of the season, while Gloucester also announced that Jonny May would complete his departure. All three have been regulars in England over the past decade but are expected to join the growing number of recent test players moving overseas this summer.
The departure of the Vunipola brothers has been under consideration for some time with Billy, who came on as a substitute in Saracens’ win over Bristol last weekend in his first appearance since his arrest in Mallorca, is expected to join Montpellier. Mako has also been linked with a move to the same top-14 club.
The brothers have been the cornerstones of the Saracens dynasty since their arrival – Mako joined Bristol, while Billy followed the Wasps have helped the club win five Premiership titles and three Champions Cup trophies. They stayed at the club – like most of their star names – during relegation to the League, but like Owen Farrell, they would move on at the end of the season, marking the end of an era.
Mark McCall, Saracens director of rugby, paid tribute to the Vunipolas, saying: “Making Billy a world-class No. 8 and a caring, supportive team-mate has been a privilege for all of us. He has donated enormously to the progress we have made as a club. On the lawful, his intuition and awesome abilities combined with his competitive spirit and body characteristics made him a force to be reckoned with.
“Few players change the way their position is played. Mako’s general abilities, his rugby intelligence and his bodily have led us as coaches to rethink what is possible with a free-headed accessory. Mako achieved a phenomenal amount in the game; three tours of the Lions, several selections in England and created the heart of all Saracens.”
Both men could make their final appearances against Sale at StoneX Stadium on Saturday, but Saracens are well positioned to win a Premiership semi-final at home. Aware that their impending departure will make it all the more difficult for his team to reach the last field, Sale’s director of rugby, Alex Sanderson, recalls his time with Mako and Billy – both at English age group level and during his long time as Saracens coach. “I coached Mako when he was 17 years old, when I coached the English u18,” said Sanderson, who revealed that Tom Curry was not quite ready to make his long-awaited comeback after hip surgery against the Saracens, but could be in the semi-finals if Dirty qualifies for the U18.
“Mako was on this team and he couldn’t do an inverted roly-poly at that time. But damn, he could play rugby. At 17, he had gray hair, but he could play. His exits and his involvement in the game, even if he was not in a very good condition, showed his ability to read the game, find the ball and make both sides of the ball appear.
“I remember sitting next to Billy after the Heineken Cup final, which we lost to Toulon, and he was inconsolable. It’s things like that that bind you to the players. We were arguing about a piss-up in a bar in Croatia. He threw a cork and touched my eye. When I left 10 years after, he sent me a letter of apology for this incident, which I buried the next day. Rugby wise, brilliant players. Men, no superior.”