Mako Vunipola reveals Top 14 ‘feat’ that would rival his British and Irish Lions success
England prop Mako Vunipola.
Mako Vunipola has revealed the achievement he says would match anything in a career spanning three Lions tours, 79 England caps and too many club trophies to mention.
The former Saracens prop, in his first season playing in France, has swapped life at the top of English club rugby for a battle for survival at the foot of the Top 14.
It has been a difficult year for him and his family and with eight rounds to go in the regular season, Vunipola’s club Vannes lie bottom of the table, three points from guaranteed safety.
“This is a tough, tough league,” says the older brother of Montpellier star Billy. “The Top 14 is a big old slog, every team on their day can beat anyone else.
“For us to stay up in the club’s first ever season at this level would be some feat. Right up there, for me personally, alongside the other things I’ve been fortunate to achieve.”
‘Real legend of English rugby’
To fully understand the size of the task Vunipola has faced since swapping north London for Brittany, a part of the world he knew nothing about, you must look beyond the field of play.
He signed for Vannes to great fanfare, hailed as a “real legend of English rugby” by his new employers. Excitement around Brittany was at fever pitch. The town has a population of 54,000 – 50,000 applied for season tickets.
But Vunipola only put pen to paper at the end of June which meant he and wife Alex, their sons Joshua and Jacob and daughter Grace, had no time to get used to the idea.
They packed up and moved to a new home in a new country unable to speak the language. The buzz surrounding the club’s historic first season of Top-14 rugby was unmistakable, so too the pain of adjustment.
“We spoke about it as a family and decided it would be an exciting adventure,” Vunipola says. “But at times it’s been tough, I won’t lie about that.
“With everything happening quite last minute, I signed end of June and had to be out here first week in July. It took us a while to find a house, a while to figure out the logistics in terms of moving out of our home and figuring out school and stuff for the kids.
“There were times I thought, ‘Have I done the right thing for my family?’ Tough days, especially for my wife, as the boys tried to adjust to a new school, everything being in French and not understanding a single word.”
Vannes won their first home game, against the same Lyon team they travel to this Saturday. The next visitors to Stade de La Rabine were Toulouse. The champions of Europe were too good but Vunipola made it onto the scoresheet.
The stadium is right in the middle of the harbour. Fans flock to the adjacent bars and restaurants from early morning on match day and Vunipola likens the raucous walk from team bus to entrance to that which he enjoyed on arrival at Twickenham with England.
“Far harder was seeing my kids struggle in school and not be able to help them.”
“For me, the rugby was easy, even though the language is different,” he says. “You see much the same pictures and videos and you figure it out. Far harder was seeing my kids struggle in school and not be able to help them get through it.”
It was still a concern at the end of November so Vunipola sought out old England teammate Jack Nowell for advice when Vannes played at La Rochelle.
“A lot of this move was me wanting to experience something different in rugby and I asked Nowellsy whether I had I done the right thing by moving us all to a different country and causing such a stir?
“He was brilliant. He reassured me we would get through it. He said he and his family had also found it tough but that after six months to a year you come out the other side.
“It has panned out as he said. We’re getting into a routine now, the kids are getting used to school and picking up the language a lot quicker than I am. Hopefully they’ll soon be able to teach me.
“We are trying to get away as much as we can to enjoy this life experience, make the most of the opportunities this move has given us rather than focus on what has not been easy.”
Expectation outside the club was that we would just turn up and roll over
Back on the pitch Vannes’ progress has been as inconsistent as the weather tends to be in Brittany. Early wins over Lyon, Castres and La Rochelle, a run of defeats then three Ws in a row against Stade Francais, Racing 92 and Montpellier.
“The expectation from outside the club, from people who don’t understand the pride of the people of Brittany, was that we would just turn up and roll over,” Vunipola says.
“We’ve taken a few big defeats but we’ve worked hard and stayed tight as a group. There has been no splintering and those three wins recently have given us confidence, made us feel more connected.
“We’re starting now to understand how we want to play as a team but we can’t afford to get ahead of ourselves. Not in this league. We have it all still to do.”
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