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The Mark McCall prediction about the departing Vunipola brothers
By Liam Heagney
Mark McCall has predicted what Billy and Mako Vunipola might be capable of in rugby when their respective playing careers come to an end. Saracens confirmed on Tuesday that the 31- and 33-year-old brothers will exit the English Gallagher Premiership club at the end of this season.
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There should be plenty of rugby-playing days ahead yet elsewhere for the pair, but their current director of rugby has suggested that both are capable of becoming coaches to be reckoned with when they finally retire from playing.
“They are two of the keenest rugby minds that I have come across in players,” vouched McCall when he hosted on Tuesday his last regular season media briefing of the season ahead of next Saturday’s home clash with Sale.
“Two guys who could go on and coach if they choose to go down that path because their understanding and innate knowledge of the game is so strong.
“Certainly for us two amazing players, two amazing people, both at the heart of everything the club have achieved.”
McCall admitted to some initial chats with the Vunipolas about coaching. “A little bit but not too much at the moment because all eyes are on the task in hand,” he said, referencing Saracens’ ambition to retain their 2022/23 Premiership title.
“The player has got to show an appetite for it. There is no point in forcing someone down that path. Most clubs do a good job of making sure players consider what they are going to do when their careers come to an end.
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“I’m not sure if Mako and Billy’s career is coming to an end just yet… but I’m sure Mako and Billy have a good idea what they want to do when they retire from rugby.”
In the club’s statement earlier on Tuesday confirming Mako’s impending exit, McCall claimed: “Few players change how their position is played. Mako’s all-around skillset, rugby intelligence, and physicality made us, as coaches, rethink what’s possible from a loosehead prop.”
Asked to elaborate on that rethink, McCall said: “Maybe I’m being unfair to loosehead props before Mako arrived whenever it was, 2011.
“But his skill level, ability to do things on the ball, his ability to see space, take space, I just think all of a sudden you have seen props the world over having those same attributes where maybe it wasn’t quite like that before.”
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And what about Billy and his standout attributes? “I think you just need to watch some of the film of his career to see. I wouldn’t want to say one thing but Billy for a while was the No1 eight in the world. I think everybody knows that.”
While the Vunipola brothers will be playing elsewhere in 2024/25, most likely across the Channel in France where they have been linked with Montpellier, McCall added that their ties with Saracens will endure.
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“It’s really important,” he said on a day when it was also confirmed that Manu Vunipola, their cousin, will also exit Saracens. “In Billy and Mako’s case, it has been a decade of their lives. It’s a big part of your life when you are only 31, that’s a third of your life spent in this building with us day in, day out.
“You sometimes see the playing group and the staff more than you see your family. You can’t underestimate the strength of those relationships.
“That’s why there is some sadness of course because we won’t get to see them as much but they are not away yet and thankfully we can look to extend our time together by a couple of weeks at least (by reaching the Premiership final). That is something to really look forward to.
“What we have always said here is we want to look back on our time at the club as the best times of our lives, but that doesn’t need to end when you leave the club.
“You are always going to be part of the club and a lot of the memories Billy and Mako will have made will have been off the field. They have had some memorable moments on the field with the club but they have had some great moments with their friends that they have made.
“There are always characters coming behind, there always is. One of the things I have got to commend Billy and Mako for is the job they have done with our younger group. They want to leave a proper legacy behind and part of that legacy is to help the younger players who are developing, bubbling away under the surface.
“Both of them take the time to spend time with them to help them with their game. They help them on the field, they help them off the field and we are very grateful to them for that.”
I really feel like neither of the Vunipolas is given the respect they deserve. I would have liked to see both of them get a few more caps than they have gotten in the past couple of years, but unfortunately the fact that they both peaked young has meant that for a number of years they have been perceived as disappointments.
When they are both retired, in the cold light of day they will be recognised as two of the best players of their generation of any nation.
this generation of saracens players could produce some really incredible coaches. When Farrell retires he could walk into any premiership team as a defence, attack, or kicking coach. Itoje could make it as a defence or a lineout coach, and Jamie George as a lineout or scrum coach.
The problem the Vunipolas are going to have is that its not clear what their coaching speciality would be. Neither are great in the set piece, and while they were good in attack and defence, they were never tactical masterminds. Perhaps contact skills would be their ideal brief? Mako perhaps could work in strength & conditioning, but Billy has a bit of a reputation for not taking that side of the game seriously.