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Tadhg Furlong talks up 'horrendous snorer' Mako Vunipola

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Tadhg Furlong. (GettyImages-1074323662)

Leinster’s Tadhg Furlong expects a Test-intensity tussle with “world class” Saracens prop Mako Vunipola in Saturday’s Heineken Champions Cup final.

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Ireland international Furlong will line up opposite England’s Vunipola as Leinster bid to retain their crown in Newcastle.

Leinster will chase an outright record fifth European title at St James’ Park, while Saracens will aim for a third trophy, to add to their wins in 2016 and 2017.

Furlong and Vunipola are arguably the world’s premier props this year, and when the Irishman speaks about his England counterpart he could easily be talking about himself.

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“Mako is world class in what he does; he has had a few injury problems this year but he has come back and looked really fresh,” said Furlong.

“His ability to attack the gainline, his ability to bring others into the game, his footwork, late at the line.

“He is a quality player to be fair to him. Sarries use him in set-piece moves and he is a player I enjoy watching.”

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Furlong enjoyed getting to know Vunipola during the British and Irish Lions’ drawn Test series in New Zealand in 2017.

But now Furlong has other ideas on his mind, primarily how to help the Irish province defend their European title.

“Going against him in the scrum, the game has changed so much in terms of scrummaging within the last two years,” said Furlong.

“What we were talking about on the Lions tour, in terms of what we wanted to achieve in the scrum and the way we went about it, is maybe not the case any more.

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“I got on well with Mako. He’s good craic. When we were over there we roomed with the props and hookers to try to build relationships.

“I got stuck in a room with Mako a few times which I enjoyed. He’s a pretty laid-back character.

“He’s a horrendous snorer so it can be tough that way with him, but most of the time he was asleep so I didn’t get much chat out of him!

“I can definitely understand some of the points that teams make about trying to back things up.

“Here the group is so competitive and it’s such a good place to work that you want to do well and you want to push on.

“We’ve learned lessons in Europe this year, especially against Toulouse away.

“It is challenging (to defend the title), but we’re back in the final now and we want to put in a good performance.”

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J
Jon 9 hours ago
Jake White: Are modern rugby players actually better?

This is the problem with conservative mindsets and phycology, and homogenous sports, everybody wants to be the same, use the i-win template. Athlete wise everyone has to have muscles and work at the gym to make themselves more likely to hold on that one tackle. Do those players even wonder if they are now more likely to be tackled by that player as a result of there “work”? Really though, too many questions, Jake. Is it better Jake? Yes, because you still have that rugby of ole that you talk about. Is it at the highest International level anymore? No, but you go to your club or checkout your representative side and still engage with that ‘beautiful game’. Could you also have a bit of that at the top if coaches encouraged there team to play and incentivized players like Damian McKenzie and Ange Capuozzo? Of course we could. Sadly Rugby doesn’t, or didn’t, really know what direction to go when professionalism came. Things like the state of northern pitches didn’t help. Over the last two or three decades I feel like I’ve been fortunate to have all that Jake wants. There was International quality Super Rugby to adore, then the next level below I could watch club mates, pulling 9 to 5s, take on the countries best in representative rugby. Rugby played with flair and not too much riding on the consequences. It was beautiful. That largely still exists today, but with the world of rugby not quite getting things right, the picture is now being painted in NZ that that level of rugby is not required in the “pathway” to Super Rugby or All Black rugby. You might wonder if NZR is right and the pathway shouldn’t include the ‘amateur’, but let me tell you, even though the NPC might be made up of people still having to pull 9-5s, we know these people still have dreams to get out of that, and aren’t likely to give them. They will be lost. That will put a real strain on the concept of whether “visceral thrill, derring-do and joyful abandon” type rugby will remain under the professional level here in NZ. I think at some point that can be eroded as well. If only wanting the best athlete’s at the top level wasn’t enough to lose that, shutting off the next group, or level, or rugby players from easy access to express and showcase themselves certainly will. That all comes back around to the same question of professionalism in rugby and whether it got things right, and rugby is better now. Maybe the answer is turning into a “no”?

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