{"id":517179,"date":"2026-04-07T07:02:13","date_gmt":"2026-04-07T07:02:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/517179\/"},"modified":"2026-04-07T07:02:13","modified_gmt":"2026-04-07T07:02:13","slug":"this-will-be-my-last-year-i-cant-finish-on-a-sour-note","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/517179\/","title":{"rendered":"This will be my last year \u2014 I can\u2019t finish on a sour note"},"content":{"rendered":"

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.<\/p>\n

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.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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?<\/p>\n

\u201cI was a bit shocked,\u201d 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. \u201cThe big reason I\u2019m coming back is Geoff \u2014 he told me the direction he\u2019s taking the group, how he sees where I can fit and help.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve enjoyed being in France, but it has had its challenges. I know this is probably the last year I\u2019ll play, so I want to finish on a high. Rugby has given me so much, so I don\u2019t want to leave with a sour taste at the end of it.\u201d<\/p>\n

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 \u2014 sometimes on 20-hour round trips for away games on a coach \u2014 in the Pro D2, then coming home to a young family, takes its toll after a while.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"RCVunipola could not prevent Vannes\u2019 relegation from the Top 14 last seasonKevin Domas\/Icon Sport\/getty images<\/p>\n

\u201cFor the family, definitely,\u201d he says. \u201cIt\u2019s 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\u2019t always the case in France. We\u2019ve been lucky in that respect.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cThe rugby is something I\u2019ve had to come to terms with. It\u2019s different to what I\u2019m used to, and that\u2019s why I wanted to come to experience it, but I\u2019d like to go back to somewhere I know and understand.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cFrench rugby is quite loyal to homegrown talent, with the JIFF rule [favouring born-and-raised French players], so unless you\u2019re a foreigner playing really well, more often than not they try to cut costs as soon as possible.\u201d<\/p>\n

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 \u2014 Joshua, seven, and Jacob, five \u2014 will enjoy moving back to Harpenden this summer.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"LeicesterParling has called upon Vunipola for one last year at LeicesterDavid Rogers\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

\u201cInitially when we told them we were coming back they were a bit nervous as they said they\u2019d miss their French friends. They\u2019re looking forward to it, though, and made some friends at the school they were at before we left,\u201d he says.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ll drive up and down and probably stay up in Leicester every couple of days depending on the schedule. It\u2019s only an hour and a half, so it\u2019s not too bad.\u201d<\/p>\n

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.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m purely there as a player, but I\u2019ve 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,\u201d he explains.\u00a0\u201cI\u2019d like to play, and then do something alongside it, whether it\u2019s just one or two nights a week, and whether it\u2019s just [the] set piece or aspects of the game like defence.<\/p>\n

\u201cI 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\u2019s a natural transition to give advice where you can.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWhenever we played Leicester you had to be at your best to win, especially in the set piece. They had [Dan] Coley, [Marcos] Ayerza, [Mart\u00edn] Castrogiovanni, [Juli\u00e1n] Montoya in the front row and now Joe Heyes, so it was always a tough battle.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI spoke to Saracens briefly as I wanted to gauge what they were thinking, with the coaching staff, but that was it really.\u00a0 They\u2019re stacked at prop. Saracens<\/a> will always be in my heart, but it\u2019s a great opportunity for me and my family. Whatever shirt I wear I\u2019ll always do my best to help the team I play for.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"BathVunipola spent 13 years at SaracensMatt Impey\/REX\/Shutterstock<\/p>\n

Having played with Parling, with England and on the 2013 Lions<\/a> tour to Australia, Vunipola knows how hard he drives standards.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI 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\u2019t take any drop-off,\u201d he explains.\u00a0\u201cHe was tough on that stuff and he sold it to me as \u2018I know you\u2019ve got other plans, but we\u2019d love for you to come here\u2019. He\u2019s a genuine guy, and that made my decision easier.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cGeoff 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\u2019s team were setting up a maul play. Haskell was pretending to disrupt and was going \u2018coming through!\u2019 jokingly. Geoff forearmed him in the face and was like, \u2018What are you doing mate? Stop messing about.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a walk-through, so as the bench you\u2019re meant to make sure you do your bit to help the team prepare. We were a bit shocked going, \u2018Oh ok, what\u2019s happened here?\u2019\u00a0The funniest bit was Hask\u2019s reaction going, \u2018Oh, sorry Geoff! Sorry Geoff! Sorry!\u2019 It was hilarious to see how he backed down. He wasn\u2019t doing any damage, but Geoff was like, \u2018It\u2019s getting boring now\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n

Future players may need to get used to reading the flick of Vunipola\u2019s 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?<\/p>\n

\u201cI keep going back and forth with it,\u201d he says.\u00a0\u201cI\u2019m very proud of my Tongan heritage, but I also understand that England is the country that\u2019s given me my opportunity. I\u2019ve lived in England most of my life, so I\u2019m a lot closer to the culture than I am with Tonga. The Tongans probably see me as English.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI have to talk to my wife and the coach to see if they ever want me.\u00a0To play another World Cup would be awesome, but there are young kids who play in New Zealand and the exposure they\u2019d get from playing in the World Cup, and for their country is huge. I\u2019ve done that, so for me to hobble out there would be unfair on a younger player.\u201d<\/p>\n

He definitely is unavailable for England duty, though.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIt 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\u2026 it\u2019s not going to happen,\u201d Vunipola says.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"MakoVunipola says England duty takes too much of a mental toll for him to returnAdam Davy\/PA<\/p>\n

He hopes the RFU stick with Steve Borthwick<\/a> to help arrest England\u2019s slide.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI believe he\u2019s the best man for the job, and he\u2019ll be harsh on himself,\u201d Vunipola says.\u00a0\u201cHe 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.\u00a0Even when they were winning he was getting heat for not playing the way they should. As the head man you\u2019re going to get heat.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019ll be calm with the players, and the players will see the same Steve, but behind closed doors he\u2019ll be working 23 hours a day to figure it out. That\u2019s why players will believe in him as you know how hard he works.\u201d<\/p>\n

Maybe one day it will be Vunipola in Borthwick\u2019s seat. \u201cTo coach well is a skill, and that\u2019s what I\u2019d like to learn,\u201d he says. If he is as good a coach as he has been a player, he will pick it up quickly no doubt.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The call took Mako Vunipola by surprise. It was in January this year when Geoff Parling offered one…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":517180,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[5903,101,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-517179","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-rugby","tag-rugby","tag-sports","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/517179","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=517179"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/517179\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/517180"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=517179"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=517179"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=517179"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}