1
'Freak' Mako Vunipola ready to dismantle Springboks
By Chris Jones
Saracens captain Brad Barritt has warned South Africa that Mako Vunipola is the best prop in the world and will prove it for England in this summer’s three-Test series against the Springboks.
Vunipola delivered another incredible performance to power Saracens to a fourth Aviva Premiership title defeating reigning champions Exeter 27-10 at a sun-drenched Twickenham last Saturday. Vunipola carried the ball 15 times and made 18 tackles to round off a remarkable season, which followed on from his front row heroics for the British and Irish Lions in their drawn Test series with the All Blacks last summer.
Vunipola's excellence gives England fans hope after being left baffled and bemused by the manner of defeat by the Barbarians and belief that there are players capable of giving the Springboks real problems.
Barritt, who was born in South Africa but became an England test regular winning 26 caps, on Monday signed a new two year contract with Saracens.
Barritt believes the Springboks will be prepared for the power Mako is going bring to the Test series, but they will not have experienced his all round game which is so important to club and country.
Barritt said: “Mako is the pinnacle at the moment and without doubt the best prop in the world. His impact on and off pitch is huge and he is a leader which makes him even more special and the things he can do are freakish for a loose head prop.
“His consistency of performance is unparalleled and to have that many impacts at set piece, ball carrying and tackling puts him on a different page to anyone else. We are very proud to have him in our team and he is someone who drives the club off the field as well as on it which makes him an unbelievable player.
“I am sure South Africa will realise that in the first game of the series and it would be naïve to think they are not aware of his special talent and what a physical specimen he is. In the last six weeks he has led this club with his impact on the pitch and been the leader in all parts of the organisation.”
Mako is much quieter than younger brother Billy who proved his fitness for the tour in the win over Exeter and both offer England head coach Eddie Jones real physicality.
“They are very different characters: “added Barritt. “Mako is an intense individual with high standards and demands that of others. We celebrate at Saracens that everyone is different.”
Trending on RugbyPass
2
Ex-Ireland wing brands Six Nations champs 'not that good'
3
Hacjivah Dayimani exits SA following Springbok snub
4
Saracens statement: The outcome of Billy Vunipola investigation
5
Latest Comments
So if this ain’t the best Irish team ever then who exactly is? I don’t remember any other Irish team being this good & winning a series in the Land of the Long White Cloud. Yes I may rip them often for 8 X QF RWC exits & twice not even making it to the QF, but they’re a damn good team who many think can only improve, including me!
Go to commentsNot a squeek out of Leinster for weeks about this match. So quiet. The first team have been quitely building for this encounter under Nienaber’s direction. All fresh, all highly motivated. They are expecting a season’s best performance from Northhampton. They will match that. They will be fresher and apparently they will have 80,000 out of the 83,000 shouting for them. I do expect Northhampton to turn up big time. Not to be missed. On a tangent it is evident how the loss of a few Premiership teams has in some respect helped other Premiership teams and England. More quality over less teams makes the teams better, which has a knock on effect on England. Not the only factor contributing to England’s rise but one of them.
Go to comments