Saracens WON’T abandon boozy squad bonding trips despite Billy Vunipola being Tasered and arrested in Majorca… as club chief reveals reason behind decision not to punish the star
Saracens are unlikely to give up the tradition of organizing drunken squad bonding trips despite the fallout from Billy Vunipola’s recent arrest in Mallorca.
The Premier League champions prepare for a return to competition in Bristol on Saturday after a weekend in the Balearic Islands came under scrutiny for players and staff when their big number 8 was fined €240 and given a suspended prison sentence of got four months.
Vunipola expressed his regret in an exclusive interview with Mail Sport and his club remains convinced of the value of the trips which helped boost their collective spirit after years of title-winning success.
“It was a really positive weekend for the group to spend quality time together away from training,” said Saracens director of rugby Mark McCall. “That’s something the players are looking forward to because it’s been part of what we do for a long time. I think other clubs do that too.
‘We just try to connect the group a little more deeply than you can sometimes achieve in your daily work. It was a really positive few days, despite what happened. It was a very nice, well organized outing together after a tough match against Bath. With nothing there the next weekend, it was an opportunity for us to connect in a different way and I’m glad we did that.”
Saracens will not give up their boozy team-bonding trips, director of rugby Mark McCall has revealed
Vunipola spoke exclusively to Mail Sport about being tasered twice by police in Mallorca
Footage showed Vunipola laughing as he was tasered by police as they tried to eject him at 4.30am
When asked whether the incident in which a drunken Vunipola was tasered twice before being restrained by several police officers – in what appeared to be an excessive show of force – would make Saracens reconsider traveling in the future, McCall added: “I don’t think so no.’
The Ulsterman went on to explain why the club only issued a reprimand, rather than handing out a more serious sanction to Vunipola’s younger brother, adding: ‘The only thing I would add to what the club has said is that when someone does something is wrong, the first reaction does not always have to be to punish that person. Sometimes you need to understand why what happened, to support and help.
‘We understand that people are human and make mistakes. Of course there is a limit, and there are things you cannot tolerate. But more often than not, if it’s appropriate, we would like to give people a second chance, maybe even sometimes a third chance if it’s clear they’re remorseful.”
On what he would expect from the penitent Vunipola in the coming weeks, McCall said: “Exactly what he always does, which is give everything to his teammates.”