It is now official that England legend Mako Vunipola will be moving back to the PREM as he departs Vannes to sign for the Leicester Tigers as the team look to improve their depth.
Now a veteran at 35, Vunipola left Saracens in 2024 to join Top 14 new boys Vannes for their first season in the top flight in their more than 70 years of existence, but the team found theirselves relegated back to to the Pro D2 as the season came to a close, finishing 14th overall.
The prop has played over 30 times for the club based in the north of France—and here a couple of reasons his signing could be a real success for the Tigers.
Vunipola will bring ‘quality’ and help ‘develop’ younger players, says Geoff Parling
Speaking on the announcement of Vunipola to Leicester, alongside the announcements of Argentine international Joel Sclavi and inter-PREM transfers Jack Doorey-Palmer and Joe Jenkins, Tigers head coach Geoff Parling praised what the veteran forward would be bringing to the team.
“Firstly, it’s great to welcome someone of Mako’s experience and quality into the squad next season. He’s a proven international loosehead that is hungry to come back to the PREM to finish his career and is looking for a place that can get the best from him whilst offering the opportunity to play in big games.”
Vunipola has played over 300 times at club level and exactly 100 times internationally for England U21s, England itself, and while touring with the British and Irish Lions, so will act as a figure of responsibility within the dynamics of Leicester’s squad, as well as having played consistently at the highest level for over a decade.
Following on from this, Parling also said:
“Secondly, he’s an outstanding character that will add real value to the group. He will be here to play and play well, but it will also be an opportunity for our young looseheads to develop and learn from someone who has repeatedly performed at the top of the game, and he’s also excited to help with our younger academy players to push their careers forwards.”
It seems as if Vunipola will act as a role model and advisor to the young props Leicester currently have, such as Tarek Haffar, Archie van der Flier and Cameron Miell, with the latter having appeared for the Tigers in the PREM Cup—Tigers will be looking to bolster their homegrown talent after this recent PREM study.
On signing for the team, Vunipola said:
“It still hasn’t sunk in. It’s something that I would never have envisaged, but I am honoured to be part of this prestigious club… Tigers are an incredibly well-supported club, and those fans are so passionate about their rugby.”
