There is nothing unusual about the sight of Billy Vunipola barrelling over the line through despairing hands nor about the hefty carry he had put in a few moments earlier during the sweeping build-up to the try he finished so peremptorily. But a look at the clock might have raised the eyebrow of a casual observer. It read, “74.05”, the final lung-bursting minutes, and big Billy was still mixing it, as he begins the response to losing his England place in the autumn.
“It’s good to play the full 80,” he said. “It’s something I enjoy doing. Going away with England it was made to be a big issue, and I think it was out of my hands, to be honest. Today was a really tough game, and it was good that I saw out the 80.”
Mind you, the pain was writ large across his face and body language as he ambled back from the tryline, hands on head, just as the conditioning coaches say, and face scrunched up, just as instinct does. He confessed later that he had started to take things for granted and fallen into a comfort zone – but no more.
“I have a lot to work on. It makes me stay on my toes and not get overconfident and think things will come my way because they have for the last year and a half. The little extras you do after training, I kind of just waived them. Rather than staying out for the extra five or 10 minutes, I thought I would be fine and maybe that told in games. It is a massive learning curve for me and I can guarantee I won’t do it again.”
That try was far from Vunipola’s only contribution. Indeed, he was awarded the man of the match award for his influence throughout, which, encouragingly, seemed to become more telling as the game wore on. His was the key break for Saracens’ second try, finished by Ben Ransom on the hour, but he made the telling tackle, too, which set up the turnover, wrought by his brother, Mako, for Saracens’ first, a few minutes before the break.
There were numerous contenders for that match gong, not least Mako, who was a constant menace over the ball and part of a dominant scrum. “Mako had a great game,” said Mark McCall, Saracens’ director of rugby. “Last week [his first start of the season after injury], he was great in a different way. He made 18 tackles and was everywhere. This week he scrummed and carried well.”
There is quite a queue building for England’s No1 shirt. And the good news for Stuart Lancaster did not end with the Vunipola brothers. George Kruis had another excellent match in the boiler room; Chris Ashton looked lively, as did the perennially excellent Alex Goode; and Owen Farrell was neat and unassuming.
And yet, collectively, Saracens have still to hit their stride. That 75th-minute Billy Vunipola try was their third and last. “We may live to regret missing the bonus point,” conceded McCall. “But what you want to be is in some kind of control going into rounds five and six. To have 13 points at this stage is OK. If you win both games you win the group. At least it’s still in our hands.”
Two huge games await – Munster at home in round five, followed by the denouement, a trip to Clermont. What may yet work in their favour is the aptitude and feistiness of Sale, whose performance should account more than any other factor for Saracens’ failure to register a fourth try. “We could still be in the mix to decide who goes through in second spot,” said Steve Diamond, Sale’s director of rugby. “We’ll always turn up and be competitive. A lot of teams would have thrown the towel in.”
Saracens must hope Sale remain true to that pledge in January. The evidence of December suggests they will.
Saracens Goode; Ashton, Wyles, Taylor, Strettle (Ransom, 20); Farrell, Wigglesworth (De Kock, 60); M Vunipola (Barrington, 67), George (Sharman, 75), Du Plessis (Johnston, 67), Kruis, Hargreaves (capt; Hamilton, 60), Brown, Burger (Wray, 57), B Vunipola.
Tries Goode, Ransom, B Vunipola. Cons Farrell 2. Pens Farrell 3.
Sin-bin Sharman 79.
Sale Haley (Forsyth, 76); Brady, Addison, Jennings, Cueto; Macleod (Ford, 51), Cliff (Fowles, 70); Harrison, Mamukashvili (Neild, 72), Cobilas (Lewis-Roberts, 66), Hines (Mills, 66), Ostrikov, Easter, Braid (capt; Hughes, 60), Beaumont.
Tries Hines, Lewis-Roberts. Con Ford. Pen Macleod.
Referee J Garcès (Fr). Att 7,561.
