He must have thought he had begun to leave the last 10 days behind him. No sooner had Billy Vunipola scored the try that secured Saracens’ latest semi-final victory, that secured him the man-of-the-match award, than a Munster fan confronted him after the match, gesticulating aggressively. Vunipola jogged on in a lap of honour, but he knows his support of Israel Folau’s social‑media antics will not be so easy to leave behind.
If his performance, or that of his team, is anything to go by, the hostility will only serve to intensify Saracens’ focus, which sharpens where that of so many others might falter. As a name in the sporting world – or what their long-suffering chairman, Nigel Wray, might call a “brand” – Saracens continue to burn bright, despite the turmoil in which they have found themselves these past few weeks. They burn brightly because, despite it all, their raison d’être, the stuff they do on the pitch, retains its intensity whenever the occasion demands and belies the scale of the organisation it transcends.
Written by Michael Aylwin at the Ricoh Arena
This news first appeared on https://www.theguardian.com/sport/blog/2019/apr/20/billy-vunipola-saracens-munster-challenge-cup under the title “Billy Vunipola in the spotlight as Saracens keep focus amid turmoil | Michael Aylwin”. Bolchha Nepal is not responsible or affiliated towards the opinion expressed in this news article.
