Saracens’ boozy bonding sessions will continue despite Billy Vunipola’s arrest
Saracens intend to maintain their tradition of going on boozy in-season team-bonding trips in spite of Billy Vunipola’s arrest in Majorca.
The former England No 8 has apologised for his actions in a bar in Palma which resulted in him being tasered twice by the Spanish police and being fined €240 (£205) following an express trial for resisting the law. Saracens have issued a warning to Vunipola, who is due to join Montpellier at the end of the season, although director of rugby Mark McCall says the club will continue to give players second, “sometimes third chances” if they are remorseful for their mistakes.
However, McCall maintains that he has no regrets over going on the trip the morning after their 15-12 away victory over Bath and sees no reason to abandon the policy in future seasons.
“I don’t think so, no,” McCall said. “It was a really enjoyable, well organised trip away together after a tough game against Bath. With nothing on the following weekend, it was an opportunity for us to connect in a different way and I am glad we did it.
“Just that weekend as a whole to travel down to the Rec which is a really hard place to go and get a result, which obviously kickstarted what turned out to be a really positive weekend for the group to spend some quality time together away from training. That’s something that the players look forward to doing as it has been part of what we have done for a long time. To be honest, I think other clubs are doing it as well. We’re just trying to connect the group a little bit more deeply then you can sometimes get in your day to day work. It was a really positive couple of days in spite of what happened.”
McCall expects Vunipola to be available for selection for Saturday’s game away at play-off rivals Bristol Bears but they are still awaiting to hear whether the 31-year-old may face a misconduct charge from the Rugby Football Union. While he considers the matter closed, McCall says that they intend to support rather than ostracise Vunipola.
“The only thing that I would add to what the club has said is that when someone does something wrong, the first reaction doesn’t always have to be to punish that person,” McCall said. “Sometimes you’ve got to understand why what happened happened, to support and help. It doesn’t always have to be a punishment.’
“I just think we understand that people are human, and people make mistakes. Of course there’s a line, and there are things that you can’t condone. But more often than not if it’s appropriate then we would want to give people second chances, maybe even sometimes third chances if it’s clear that they’re remorseful, that they take ownership of it.”
Asked how he expects Vunipola to respond in their final two regular season matches, McCall added: “Just what he always does, which is to give his all to his team-mates.”
Saracens also confirmed that centre Alex Lozowski will be available for the trip to Ashton Gate on Saturday for the first time since injuring his ACL in November.
