Billy Vunipola hails Montpellier as ‘perfect match’ for ex-England star who reveals Lions ‘itch’ after claiming prestigious honour
Former England number eight Billy Vunipola on his new life in Montpellier.
Winter sunshine streaks through the windows of the room in which Billy Vunipola sits, piecing together phrases in a foreign tongue.
It is Thursday, which means his weekly French lesson. Two hours of hard graft. By his own admission progress is slower than on the rugby field.
“It’s like going back to school,” says Vunipola. “Starting over again.”
Two days ago Steve Borthwick named England‘s Six Nations squad, sparking debate about which Saracens number eight should start against Ireland.
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For a decade the answer was Vunipola. 75 times he wore the jersey. When he was fit and firing no-one else got a look in.
He is no longer part of the conversation. Either Ben Earl or Tom Willis will likely get the nod in Dublin. Vunipola, 32, is ineligible.
Eight months ago that was really not a problem. He had drunk too much and been tasered in a bar in Mallorca. He was fined by the Spanish authorities, admonished by the Rugby Football Union. England was off the radar.
Vunipola walked away from the Gallagher Premiership and signed a two-year deal with Montpellier – a club who, like him, had seen better times. Out of sight and out of mind, that should have been the end of the story.
Yet this month Midi Olympique, the bi-weekly bible of French rugby, published its mid-season verdict on the Top 14 imports: Les tops et flops du recruitment, as they headlined it.
Owen Farrell and Harry Williams did not come out of it well, but sitting on top of the tops was one Viliami Vunipola.
“When his signature was announced we must admit we had some doubts,” ran the citation, making mention of his “night of heavy drinking”. Those doubts, the journal insisted, were “legitimate”.
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Within weeks, it continued, they were swept away. “The younger Vunipola has shown unwavering commitment and impressive consistency and quickly become one of the leaders of this Montpellier team.”
Les Cistes are up to seventh in the Top 14, they have won three in a row on the back of Vunipola’s fine form and the chastening memory of only escaping relegation last season via a play-off is fading.
“Everyone keeps telling me ‘well done, well done’,” says Vunipola. “I’m like, ‘What are you saying well done for?’ We haven’t done anything yet. We’ve given ourselves a chance, that’s all. I need to keep my head down, keep working hard.”
Vunipola has a history of highs and lows. He has previously described himself as arrogant and immature, admitted to getting ahead of himself. He wants this time to be different but knows it is not a given.
“I definitely feel the pressure,” he says.
Why, because you’re a big name, an expensive recruit, bought in to turn this club around?
“Even if people don’t think that, it’s what I thought they thought,” he adds. “That they saw this guy coming in at the age of 31 at the tail-end of his career. That they were were like, ‘This guy’s just come here to relax. He’s come to Montpellier just to money grab’.
“I wanted to stop that, to change that narrative pretty quickly. My first job I knew was to train hard and keep my head down, show everyone I was here to work and not on holiday.
“I like the lifestyle, of course I do. In the summer it’s unbelievably hot, unbelievably nice. But my main thing has to be the rugby. My wife, I think, forgets that sometimes! She forgets I have to go and train. The thing is, if I don’t play well I can’t feed them, we can’t do the things they want to do.”
Only now does Vunipola see with crystal clarity why he needed to move on from Saracens.
Out of his comfort zone
“I’m a seasoned international, if I can say that,” he says. “I was way too comfortable and needed to get out of that comfort zone. I’d played in the Premiership long enough. I’d done my time. I needed something new. I needed a fresh pair of eyes on me.
“This was a challenge I wanted, the perfect match for me. The Top 14 is so hard, so competitive. The jeopardy of potentially getting relegated is always there.
“We’re seventh at the moment but we lose two or three games and we’re back in the mix for relegation. There’s never an opportunity where you can feel, ‘I’m just going to relax this week. I don’t have to play as well’.
“I feel the pressure every week, and that’s an aspect I really, really enjoy.”
Vunipola is into his stride now. At times like this he is so honest, so candid, a great interviewee. Is he in better shape now than he was back at Sarries?
“I don’t think you need scales to make that assumption!” he laughs. “Just use your eyes. That comes back to being comfortable. It’s no one else’s fault, it’s all on me. Being comfortable is a choice, and I wasn’t happy with the way I was. That’s why coming here, I needed to change.”
The leadership piece has perhaps surprised him most. At Saracens he did not drive that aspect because he did not have to. “I had such great leaders I could follow that I never had to assume the role. It was easy to be, so to speak, one of the lads.
“I’m a bit older now. And while coming here was a big step, and I struggled a bit at first, I think I am now what Montpellier expected when I signed: someone who can lead.
“I never thought I’d assume a captaincy. It’s not something I ever wanted or went after. I guess maybe Montpellier have seen something in there.
“But for me, nothing’s really changed. It’s just trying to get a group moving in the same direction. That’s all I ever want.”
From Grand Slams and Six Nations titles to a World Cup final, from Premiership titles to Champions Cup crowns, Vunipola has achieved almost everything in the game. With one glaring exception.
For one reason or another he never made a British and Irish Lions tour, despite being selected in 2017 (withdrew injured). Could 2025 change all that? It is, he confesses, an itch he would like to scratch.
“But it’s not my only itch,” he adds. “I’ve a big itch here that I’ve got to scratch every day, and it’s not even Montpelier, it’s just me.
“Challenging myself to get up every morning and show people that I’m here to play rugby. That’s, that’s my biggest itch. Whatever comes from that, comes from it.
“But if we make it to the [French Championship] final I can hardly then turn around and say, ‘Oh, sorry. You know, I’m going on the Lions tour’.
“My main thing is my main thing.”
