'That was the first time I ever played against Faz... it was strange'

Mako Vunipola has a wealth of rugby experiences after a trophy-laden career with Saracens but hearing Owen Farrell’s unmistakable voice organising the opposition’s attack was a shock.

Now, having enjoyed a post-match catch-up in the Vannes changing room with his former England and Saracens captain, who is the fulcrum of Racing 92’s expensive rebuild, Vunipola is preparing to face brother Billy for only the second time in their professional rugby lives in Saturday’s crucial Top 14 clash with fellow strugglers Montpellier at the GGL Stadium.

After 11 seasons together as Sarries teammates, winning four Gallagher Premiership titles and three European Champions Cups, the Vunipola brothers are now 580 miles apart in teams that are propping up the Top 14 table. Newly promoted Vannes made Mako their marquee signing while Billy is in an underperforming Montpellier team alongside fellow England No.8 Sam Simmonds who is also part of an expanded group of English players who have chosen the Top 14 over the Premiership, ruling them out of England selection.

The Vunipolas' parents Fe’ao and Iesinga have to split their time between Brittany and the Hérault to see their grandchildren but are going to give this second-ever clash of the brothers a miss. Iesinga’s concern about her boys having to tackle each other helped prompt Billy’s departure from Wasps to Saracens shortly after their first-ever game against each other in 2013.

Vunipola, whose Vannes side lost 27-24 to Racing, said: “That was the first time I ever played against Faz and it was strange hearing his voice on the field talking to the opposition. He is still the same old Faz, doing lots of talking and organising but there are still a lot of moving parts to sort out and he looks like he is really enjoying the challenge.

“His French is really good and Faz has had a lot of lessons but I could hear he was talking in English a lot and my French is nowhere near his. It was strange to be on the pitch in different kits for different clubs."

After facing Farrell now comes an even more emotional challenge with the second ever on-field battle with younger brother Billy and the pair have been in contact, talking about shared experiences and problems in a new country with their young families. “We message each other all the time and we will probably spend the whole weekend together when we play Montpellier. Now we are a bit older it is easier to play against each other, but it will be different,” admitted the 33-year-old British and Irish Lions prop who is two years older than his brother.

“Being around each other for so long we took it for granted and it’s tough for the family with us being in two different areas of France. My Mum and Dad are going to come out to France next month and won’t be at this game.

“It is a really long time since we first played against each other when Billy was at Wasps in 2013. It was a strange match to play in and Billy joined Sarries shortly after that and I think in that first game against each other Mum and Dad were just hoping we came out of it unhurt. I did try and treat it as just another game and I think we only came across each other once or twice in the game making tackles against each other.

(Photo by Dan Mullan/The RFU Collection via Getty Images)

“For me, that first game was a lot bigger than it is because we are now older and understand what we need to do for our teams and while I want him to go well on Saturday, my focus is on getting a win for my team. We are both are concentrating on adjusting and working out how things go on over here and I will have a proper catch-up with him this weekend.”

Vannes started their debut Top 14 campaign with a home defeat by reigning champions Toulouse but bounced back with a famous 30-20 win over Lyon to send the town wild with celebration. They could have followed that up with a win over Racing, however, a remarkable collapse of their collective discipline saw the Brittany team concede 21 penalties in the second half.

Vunipola explained: “This is a big game against a quality Montpellier side and we know we have to improve our discipline as we gave away 21 penalties in the second half against Racing. The fact we only lost by three points was some kind of miracle given that penalty count against us and we hardly got out of our half for 65 minutes and it was a real battle. I have never played in a game where I have been in a side that’s conceded that many.

Billy and Mako Vunipola could bow out of English rugby after stellar contributions to Saracens (Photo by David Rogers/Getty Images)

“We have been trying to keep a lid on discipline and giving away penalties and in the first couple of weeks were pretty good but Racing put us under a lot of pressure and you start giving away stupid penalties.

“I will try and help the boys as we prepare for Montpellier and where we both are the league has added to the pressure. Anyone can beat anybody in the Top 14 and I think we have seen that in the early rounds of the competition and I was used to watching the home team winning in this league but it is different. We are flying to Montpellier and all the travelling is very different to playing in the Premiership.”