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Alex Sanderson recalls a booze-fuelled fight with Billy Vunipola
Alex Sanderson has paid tribute to Mako and Billy Vunipola, the brothers whose exit from Saracens was confirmed on Tuesday by the London club.
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Now working as the Sale director of rugby, Sanderson is due to bring his Sharks to the StoneX this Saturday looking for a result against the second-place team to qualify his fourth-place side for the Gallagher Premiership semi-finals.
That visit will provide the former Saracens assistant coach with the opportunity to salute the Vunipolas in person for their exploits with the Londoners this last decade, a journey that Sanderson was involved in until January 2022 when he decided to take up his boss role at Sale.
Mako arrived at Saracens from Bristol in 2011, with Billy following from Wasps two years later, and Sanderson outlined his respect for the pair during his weekly media briefing ahead of this weekend’s round 18 league fixture.
Sanderson’s former boss Mark McCall initially paid tribute to the Vunipolas, describing the brothers as two of the keenest rugby player minds he had ever come across. He predicted they could have a future in coaching whenever they do stop playing.
The Saracens verdict on the soon-to-depart Vunipola brothers. #GallagherPrem #EnglandRugby pic.twitter.com/GSjCM7dnxv
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) May 15, 2024
Asked for his take on the 33- and 31-year-old Vunipolas, who have been linked with a switch to Montpellier next season, Sanderson told a media audience that included RugbyPass: “I haven’t heard his comments.”
That, though, didn’t stop him from going on and delving into his memory bank, explaining his first impression of Mako as a 17-year-old and also revealing an incident with a p***ed-up Billy in a Croatian bar.
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“I’ll just take you back: I coached Mako when he was 17 at school. It was my second coaching gig after the Reds. I went to Eddie Jones at the Reds, a baptism of fire. Came back, worked for the RFU, coached England U18s.
“And Mako was in that squad and he couldn’t do a backward roly-poly at the time. It was funny. My missus still remembers it. This is like 15 years ago, I’m sure. I said, ‘Have a look at this kid, he can’t do a backward roly-poly. But geez could he play rugby!
“He was out of shape and he had grey hair at 17; he’d lost his passport surely ’cause he is not 17. But he could play.
“His outputs and his involvements in the game, even back then when he wasn’t in great condition, showed his ability to read a game, to find the ball, to pop up in areas defensively where he had impact both sides of the ball. And that was back then.
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“And then I met Billy. It’s funny innit? I don’t think of the rugby acuteness when I think of them two.
“I remember being sat next to Billy after the Heineken Cup final that was lost against Toulon (in 2014) and he was inconsolable and it’s things like that that bind you to players.
“Sorry (Sanderson, getting emotional, wipes his eye)… We had a fight on a p*** up in a bar in Croatia. A bit of a fight. He threw a cork and it hit me in the eye. He was p***ed. I don’t think he has drunk since then. And when I left he sent me a letter apologising, that was 10 years after, for that incident which I had buried the day after so.
“Rugby-wise, yeah, brilliant players. Men? None better. None better blokes. Really fortunate to have known them.”
Comments on RugbyPass
Good to hear your vocie again Bren!
2 Go to commentsLocking the PUs out of governance of the NZ game is a drastic - not “modern” concept. NZR showed through the Silver Lake deal what can be expected from “professional” boards. Secretive, shady deals and huge remuneration for adminstrators. And the PUs, schools and clubs that feed the professional game? Input not needed. There seems to be an agenda of keeping unwanted scrutiny and voices out of the governance of the NZ game and a selection “panel” is much less transparent than Unions, clubs and schools having a say through voting and representation. There are much more people involved in these levels of rugby.
12 Go to commentsIt’s clear at this point Ardie does not have another World Cup cycle in him. Unless he is being misrepresented in the interviews all he has spoken about since the World Cup is playing for anyone other than the ABs. Don’t expect to see him re-sign with NZR when his next contract expires in 2025. If he wasn’t already, Scott Barrett is an absolute shoe-in for captain now.
1 Go to commentsPretty sure JK, Goldie, Fozzie and Ben Smith will figure out a way to blame Dr Rassie and the Boks for this mess.
12 Go to commentsMost overrated center of all time. Jacques Fourie dominated when he came on. I’ll never forget that try in the corner.
2 Go to comments“Josh Van der Flier counter rucking” , What a farce!! JVDF came, twice,running from 10 meters giving headbutts in Neti's ribs, without any chance of even seeing the Ball, witch was 5 or 6 meters beyond. So maybe Neti should have seen red, but JFVD should have seen the same card at the very same time.
2 Go to commentsIt's his first season and we're missing the key cog in it - Ringrose. Way too early to be calling a verdict on it's success
2 Go to commentsAs a youngster he was just a drag racer who loved to run sideways across the pitch but for a couple of years under Eddie Jones, May became an exceptional player. Jones heralded him as the most professional player he'd ever worked with. I'd say in his prime he was in the top five wingers aerially, he was like a salmon and his defensive work was amazing. I feel like he was Jones’ Private Pyle and he moulded him into a savage. Add those traits to being one of the fastest blokes in rugby and yes for a while, he was world class. Probably coincides with his time at Leicester too. At Gloucester and under other England coaches he didn't reach such heights.
2 Go to commentsis he the best 8 available for RSA?
5 Go to commentsWillemse is world class & only 25 years old. He has the ability to get even better, so this is a huge blow. We’ll also be without Kitshoff, Wiese & possibly Am. Kwagga, Marx. Faf & Jaden on the injury list too. Obvious choice is to slot Willie in as starting 15. There are a few others on the fringes like Boogie (Gelant), Horn & Fassi etc. I don’t see how Green gets a shout if he ain’t part of the squad/camps at all. Kolbe & KLA can cover 15 too if something goes wrong during the game as well.
19 Go to commentsRazor will be watching him
2 Go to commentsAbout time the Brumbies pulled their finger out and put in for 80 minutes. And stop b….. cheating !
1 Go to commentsWithout Vunivalu undermining the team and Lynagh at 10 the Reds should perform much better. Should. Especially if Uru is playing.
1 Go to commentsThat sounds like it will be matchings aussies league and AFL deals. Thats pretty big!
1 Go to commentsCouldn’t be arsed reading the end, got tired of skimming through. Simple TLDR is that NPC has to be part of the high performance pathway, its as simple as that. That it is as ‘inefficient’ as the report highlights is irrelevant, the game simply needs that much investment into it or it will go backwards imo, doubleup or no.
12 Go to commentsClutch alright. Crazy spirit this guy aye, whats that like 6 teams in the one article he’s played for, love it!
2 Go to commentsThose two are certainly so good on their feet now that it makes it easier to retain ball, but I think we have to largely give credit to the administration for making it harder to break down steal. These examples have so often put the attacking team on the back foot with ball security, hope we keep seeing signs of improvement (well balance is a personal choice somewhat but I’m talking subjectively for the good of the game).
60 Go to comments‘actual owners’? Hmm, that says it all. Asking these provincial union wart-hogs to pull their snouts out of the trough is tantamount to asking turkeys to vote for Christmas.
12 Go to commentsLet them go and do what they want. The executive are backing the players in this instance and see an opportunity to assert control over the actual owners of the NZ game which is the clubs and provinces. The players and executive are little better than thieves. The motivation is not about the well being of the game or workers rights, this is about narrowed minded greed and self interest.
12 Go to commentsIf it comes down to who wins on goal kicks, I’d be fearing Toulouse. They got the man there by a fair margin !
2 Go to comments