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Billy Vunipola close to deal with Montpellier

Saracens' Billy Vunipola (Photo by Patrick Khachfe/Getty Images)

Billy Vunipola has been in advanced talks with Top 14 strugglers Montpellier about a switch to France when his contract with Gallagher Premiership champions Saracens runs out at the end of the season.

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No8 Vunipola, who won the last of his 75 England caps in the Rugby World Cup semi-final defeat at the hands of South Africa last October, held a Zoom call with Montpellier officials earlier this week.

The French, who have a budget of £21,000 a month to spend on filling a hole in their back row, didn’t make an offer at the time because it would have required the 31-year-old Vunipola to accept a substantial cut in his salary expectations.

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      RugbyPass sources on Friday morning suggested that more talks have taken place since then and that an agreement has been reached, but we have been unable to verify them.

      Sydney-born Vunipola was a member of the England squad that was defeated in the 2019 World Cup final. He joined Saracens 11 years ago after starting his career with Wasps and has won four Premiership and three European crowns.

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      He has also been in talks with Suntory Sungoliath about a lucrative switch to Japan. He is eyeing what is likely to be the last big move of his career and wants to maximise his earning potential.

      Meanwhile, Montpellier have also been linked with a move for Sale Sharks centre Manu Tuilagi, who will be 33 in May. Tuilagi is also out of contract this summer. Another French outfit, Perpignan, are believed to have him on their wanted list.

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      However, we understand that the England midfielder isn’t close to reaching an agreement with anybody and is still weighing up his future career plans.

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      EllenMoody 4 hours ago
      Great moments in Lions tour history – JPR’s drop goal and the All Blacks' brutal revenge

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      JWH 5 hours ago
      'Matches between Les Bleus and the All Blacks are rarely for the faint-hearted.'

      Do you hear yourself? Do you have any concept of world view? Have you tried looking into why people call Ireland ‘arrogant’? Obviously not.


      We started calling you arrogant when you called our captain a ‘shit Richie McCaw’. In New Zealand. On our turf. Don’t think that kind of behaviour really calls for respect, does it.


      NZ don’t really talk ourselves up, if anything the rugby does it for us. No kiwi goes in the media and says: ‘We are gonna win the RWC’. However, I have found many instance of IRISH media saying that the Irish should win, without a doubt. THAT is disrespectful.


      The All Blacks have played good rugby, even some of the best rugby ever, at many points in history, but I don’t think you could find a single instance of one of those players, or the NZ media, saying that they should whitewash their opponents. Ever.


      Now, onto your analysis. Ireland DID choke the QF. They beat the champions, they were ranked first coming into it, a lot of players at the peaks of their powers. Its hard to say that they didn’t choke. Obviously, their preparation was just not as good as NZ, and thats all there really is to it.


      If Ireland had repsected that ABs team and that QF more, maybe they would’ve prepared properly for it and won. But they didn’t.


      Maybe if Ireland had won their QF last RWC, they wouldn’t have to be in the same pool as SA and Scotland. I mean, its called a draw for a reason. NZ got third last RWC, so of course they should get a reasonable pool, and they were ranked pretty highly too. If you want to talk about easy pools, look no further than Pool 3 with England, Australia, Fiji, and Georgia I think?


      Now, obviously you don’t remember how that QF ended, so I’ll go ahead and rectify that. Ireland reclaimed the ball off kickoff and marched for 20ish phases into the opposition half. Savea then won a turnover, but the referee refused to give it, so play went on. Finally, at the NZ 22, after not giving up a single penatly in 25 phases of hard defense, Sam Whitelock, the most capped All Black of all time, wins the game with an incredible steal.


      Now, NZ players having a go at Ireland. Do you cry when you get hit after making the first swing? We all know Sexton is a prick on the field, its just the truth. And Ioane never backs down from a clash, so he thought he should humble a player who has never won an international knockout game who thought he was all that. Don’t really see the issue, its poetic justice really.

      83 Go to comments
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