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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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    F
    Flankly 25 minutes ago
    Maro Itoje: What was said as Lions fell 'far behind' on scoreboard

    This is what dreams are made of

    Umm. Credit to a winning team, but to be clear … the team you beat is ranked 6th in the world, did not make it out of the pool stage of the last RWC, and came last in the 2024 Rugby Championship. Not sure any bookie has them as favorites for the 2025 RC either.


    Australia have made progress for sure, and of course that matters. But for a team made up of 4 leading rugby nations, including two that are ranked much higher than this opposition, a win is expected and a loss would be humiliating. Furthermore, with weeks of playing together, planning together and living together it is hard to argue that the Lions have had less opportunity for cohesion than Australia.


    A win is a win, and no-one should question that. But a last-minute one-score win that depended on a 50/50 penalty call is one to humbly accept, rather than to crow about. It was neither a beating, nor even a compelling win. I thought win was not undeserved, but it’s a close call on which was the better team on the day.


    And let’s get off this nonsense about it being like a world cup final. The local pub teams may feel that their big game is like a world cup final, but it’s stupid to pretend it is the reality. The RWC final is played by two of the top teams in the world, and there is no evidence that either of these teams fits that description. There is a game in Eden Park later this year between the #1 and #2 ranked teams that would be a lot closer to it, of course.


    Well done to the Lions, and congrats to the Wallabies. Let’s enjoy a good game for what it was, without pretending it was something bigger than it was.

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