Billy Vunipola: 'If I say that, I’ll get too comfortable. I’ll stay humble'

Billy Vunipola led Montpellier to Challenge Cup glory in a 59-26 victory over Ulster at Bilbao’s San Mames Stadium but insisted he still needs to prove himself at the French club.

The former England number eight barged over for a first-half try and set up a second as Montpellier completed an eighth successive victory in all competitions that continues their pursuit of a domestic and European double.

Vunipola said earlier this week that when leaving Saracens for the Top 14 in 2024 he wanted to show his team-mates that he “wasn’t here for a pay cheque”, but even after winning the Challenge Cup he still feels under pressure to deliver.

“If I say that (I’ve proved myself), I’ll get too comfortable,” the 33-year-old told Premier Sports.

“I’ll stay humble, we’ll have a good night, and we’ve got a big game in the Top 14 next weekend as well.

“It’s the sun in Montpellier – honestly it’s given me a new lease of life.

“And the challenge to try and help this team win things and do better than they did two years ago. It’s been a great challenge. I’ve enjoyed it.

“The recruitment has been really good in terms of bringing up the young boys and my role is just trying to set a good example.

“I don’t always do it – my wife will attest to that – but I try my best, man, I try my best.”

Montpellier racked up nine tries with their big forwards overpowering Ulster from an early stage, while they also threatened around the edges and out wide.

“We were just playing in the right areas. It sounds boring, but it’s true,” Vunipola said.

“Every time we got into their 22 or into their half, we were asking them difficult questions. We scored most of the time and that’s what we wanted to do.”

Ulster head coach Richie Murphy admitted his side had been steamrollered by Montpellier with the hot and humid conditions – it was 33 degrees at kick-off – affecting their running game.

“Their power game put us under so much pressure and we just couldn’t handle it,” Murphy said.

“After being 7-0 up we needed to build on that lead and try and get ourselves out in front of Montpellier.

“But once it became a set-piece dominated game, it was very hard to live with that power.

“The conditions were massive. The ability to move the ball was really difficult because the lads were so sweaty and the ball is so sweaty.

“We looked dangerous at times. We had a couple of nice phases, scored a couple of good tries, but ultimately their power was too much for us.”