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Mako Vunipola has held talks about joining Billy at Montpellier

Mako Vunipola in action for Saracens versus Harlequins last Saturday (Photo by David Rogers/Getty Images)
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Mako Vunipola has held talks about joining his younger brother Billy in Montpellier when his contract with Gallagher Premiership champions Saracens runs out at the end of the season.

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The 33-year-old prop, who missed the Rugby World Cup earlier this season because of a back injury, retired from international rugby in January after winning 79 England caps and playing nine times for the British and Irish Lions.

Saracens boss Mark McCall admitted last week that the New Zealand-born loosehead would likely join his brother in leaving North London this summer, representing the end of an era as the Vunipola brothers would join former England captain Owen Farrell in leaving.

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“I don’t want to talk without them having completely finalised their plans. It wouldn’t be fair given what they have done for the club, but they are coming towards the end of their time with us,” said McCall.

Educated at the prestigious Millfield School, Vunipola has made over 200 appearances for Saracens. He joined their senior academy in 2011 after making his professional debut with Bristol.

The loosehead has spoken to Montpelier about moving across the channel but hasn’t reached any agreement as he weighs up moving his young family to the Mediterranean coast.

Vunipola has attracted interest from Super Rugby Pacific franchises and clubs in Japan in the past but is seemingly likely to head to France for what will likely be the last couple of years of his career.

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Billy Vunipola last week agreed to a two-year deal with Montpellier that was nearly hijacked by a late offer from the southern hemisphere.

An Australian Super Rugby franchise made a late bid to snatch the 31-year-old No8, who was born in Sydney, from under the noses of Montpellier, but his deal to switch to the Top 14 was already agreed.

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NoLongerARuck 2 hours ago
Can the Wallabies evoke the spirit of 2021 to rock the world champions?

The Wallabies lineout is one area where they have maintained high standards throughout the years despite dropping to below 40% in term of win percentage. The Boks didnt get tested there against NZ and I expect Aus to certainly challenge there. This is as good an opportunity that Aus will get against the Boks. Its a new team with plenty of inexperience but Rassie has kept an experienced core for the lineout but Grobbelaars throwing can go awry when under pressure as we have seen in big matches for the Bulls. The Wallabies backline is also stacked with quality and theres some power on the bench too. For the first time in a long time the Wallabies have some depth to call upon and real quality options across the park. Even so this is a different Bok team than the one that exited covid. That team hadnt played in front of a crowd since 2019, had 18 months apart and barely had any cohesion. Their game plan was literally kick scrum and maul throughout the Lions series and the Argentina tests and they were very much a team that regressed since 2019. They had to recover their game and recover their conditioning and that was top of mind for coaches. Having said that the team that runs out this weekend has several green players with few minutes behind them in the past 2 months. They should be short of a gallop. Sure they have been training as a shadow team against the first team Boks but training is no substitute for game time. I expect them to be rusty and to lack cohesion and thats why this a good opportunity for an Australian team building momentum.

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