The call took Mako Vunipola by surprise. It was in January this year when Geoff Parling offered one last shot to his former England and British & Irish Lions team-mate, and old friend.
Vunipola was keen to come home anyway, to return from Vannes, the French club he moved to in 2024 having retired from England Test service, but he did not expect it to be as a player.
Life in Brittany has been an experience, but difficult for his young family. He wants to coach, so thought that was his next chapter. But Parling twisted his arm. Come on Mako, one more year at Leicester Tigers. Join the project, mentor the kids, and sign off your career in style. What do you say?
“I was a bit shocked,” Vunipola tells The Times, having accepted an offer of a one-year deal at Welford Road, where he will now end his career in 2027 as a 36-year-old. “The big reason I’m coming back is Geoff — he told me the direction he’s taking the group, how he sees where I can fit and help.
“I’ve enjoyed being in France, but it has had its challenges. I know this is probably the last year I’ll play, so I want to finish on a high. Rugby has given me so much, so I don’t want to leave with a sour taste at the end of it.”
Vunipola has struggled a little this year. He enjoyed the quest of trying to keep Vannes in the Top 14 last year, which ultimately failed, but slogging around France — sometimes on 20-hour round trips for away games on a coach — in the Pro D2, then coming home to a young family, takes its toll after a while.
He has had a wrist issue and a niggly back, which has limited him to 11 of 24 league games this season, and while everyone at Vannes has been welcoming, integration can be trickier than it looks on a postcard.
Vunipola could not prevent Vannes’ relegation from the Top 14 last seasonKevin Domas/Icon Sport/getty images
“For the family, definitely,” he says. “It’s been a lot harder than I thought, with the kids at school and the language barrier. You can get away with speaking English, and the people in Vannes are polite so let you speak a bit of English, which I know isn’t always the case in France. We’ve been lucky in that respect.
“The rugby is something I’ve had to come to terms with. It’s different to what I’m used to, and that’s why I wanted to come to experience it, but I’d like to go back to somewhere I know and understand.
“French rugby is quite loyal to homegrown talent, with the JIFF rule [favouring born-and-raised French players], so unless you’re a foreigner playing really well, more often than not they try to cut costs as soon as possible.”
Vunipola apologises for sounding bunged up as we chat. His kids have given him a bug from their school, so he is a bit under the weather. His two-year-old daughter Grace has just risen from a nap too, so needs hugs from dad. His sons — Joshua, seven, and Jacob, five — will enjoy moving back to Harpenden this summer.
Parling has called upon Vunipola for one last year at LeicesterDavid Rogers/Getty Images
“Initially when we told them we were coming back they were a bit nervous as they said they’d miss their French friends. They’re looking forward to it, though, and made some friends at the school they were at before we left,” he says.
“I’ll drive up and down and probably stay up in Leicester every couple of days depending on the schedule. It’s only an hour and a half, so it’s not too bad.”
Vunipola knows it will initially feel odd, donning a Tigers shirt having spent 13 years at Saracens, but is keen to graft for them as he replaces the departing Nicky Smith, the Welsh loose-head prop who will join Sale Sharks. Leicester can help his new career too.
“I’m purely there as a player, but I’ve told Geoff I want to be a coach after, and it would be really good to help out with the academy once or twice a week,” he explains. “I’d like to play, and then do something alongside it, whether it’s just one or two nights a week, and whether it’s just [the] set piece or aspects of the game like defence.
“I might do some in the academy, or semi-pro, or amateur club stuff. Turning from player to coach is a massive difference. Being an older player, it’s a natural transition to give advice where you can.
“Whenever we played Leicester you had to be at your best to win, especially in the set piece. They had [Dan] Coley, [Marcos] Ayerza, [Martín] Castrogiovanni, [Julián] Montoya in the front row and now Joe Heyes, so it was always a tough battle.
“I spoke to Saracens briefly as I wanted to gauge what they were thinking, with the coaching staff, but that was it really. They’re stacked at prop. Saracens will always be in my heart, but it’s a great opportunity for me and my family. Whatever shirt I wear I’ll always do my best to help the team I play for.”
Vunipola spent 13 years at SaracensMatt Impey/REX/Shutterstock
Having played with Parling, with England and on the 2013 Lions tour to Australia, Vunipola knows how hard he drives standards.
“I played under Geoff, more than with him, as I was young when I came through. He was the leader of the pack lineout-wise, and didn’t take any drop-off,” he explains. “He was tough on that stuff and he sold it to me as ‘I know you’ve got other plans, but we’d love for you to come here’. He’s a genuine guy, and that made my decision easier.
“Geoff has a short fuse, which can be funny. I remember with England we did lineout training once, and were mauling. Me and James Haskell were on the opposition side, but Geoff’s team were setting up a maul play. Haskell was pretending to disrupt and was going ‘coming through!’ jokingly. Geoff forearmed him in the face and was like, ‘What are you doing mate? Stop messing about.’
“It was a walk-through, so as the bench you’re meant to make sure you do your bit to help the team prepare. We were a bit shocked going, ‘Oh ok, what’s happened here?’ The funniest bit was Hask’s reaction going, ‘Oh, sorry Geoff! Sorry Geoff! Sorry!’ It was hilarious to see how he backed down. He wasn’t doing any damage, but Geoff was like, ‘It’s getting boring now’.”
Future players may need to get used to reading the flick of Vunipola’s eyebrows, although you expect he will be a softer soul than some. Before coaching fully, he may have one last shot at a World Cup, with his native Tonga. Having stood down from Test duty since 2023, he is now eligible to switch nations, and represent them at the 2027 World Cup. There he could face England in the pool stages. Will he?
“I keep going back and forth with it,” he says. “I’m very proud of my Tongan heritage, but I also understand that England is the country that’s given me my opportunity. I’ve lived in England most of my life, so I’m a lot closer to the culture than I am with Tonga. The Tongans probably see me as English.
“I have to talk to my wife and the coach to see if they ever want me. To play another World Cup would be awesome, but there are young kids who play in New Zealand and the exposure they’d get from playing in the World Cup, and for their country is huge. I’ve done that, so for me to hobble out there would be unfair on a younger player.”
He definitely is unavailable for England duty, though.
“It takes a lot of mental fortitude, more than physical, and so it would obviously be great to play for England again, but the sacrifices you have to make are too much for me now. Trying to keep up with some of them now… it’s not going to happen,” Vunipola says.
Vunipola says England duty takes too much of a mental toll for him to returnAdam Davy/PA
He hopes the RFU stick with Steve Borthwick to help arrest England’s slide.
“I believe he’s the best man for the job, and he’ll be harsh on himself,” Vunipola says. “He will strip it all back, and show the players what we want to be as a team, how we want to play, and will make it so simple there are no grey areas. Good players will then bring it to life. Even when they were winning he was getting heat for not playing the way they should. As the head man you’re going to get heat.
“He’ll be calm with the players, and the players will see the same Steve, but behind closed doors he’ll be working 23 hours a day to figure it out. That’s why players will believe in him as you know how hard he works.”
Maybe one day it will be Vunipola in Borthwick’s seat. “To coach well is a skill, and that’s what I’d like to learn,” he says. If he is as good a coach as he has been a player, he will pick it up quickly no doubt.