Top 14 – Billy Vunipola (Montpellier): “Being under pressure brings out the best in me”

Is victory the most important thing tonight?

Yes, of course. We didn’t really say that in the locker room, but in my head, I’d rather win now than win at the end of the season. As I said during the week, it is very, very important for us to build momentum now. After Perpignan, we went down a little slower. So it is very important that we prepare very well for next week.

After winning so many times with England and Saracens, how are you handling the situation at your new club? We think it must not be easy to be at the bottom of the Top 14 ranking…

This might surprise you but… I really like it. Because I think it brings out the best in me. I hope this helps the team. The pressure of performing every week is good for me. I think the more we deal with these challenges, the better we will be as a team.

We found you very consistent in your efforts throughout the game…Have you improved your physical fitness in recent months?

I’m not the only one, the whole team prepared hard in the season. The sad thing is that this is not yet visible on the ground. We got a glimpse of it against Vannes when we play in the right areas, when we give our all. We can score efforts like Wilfrid (Hounkpatin, editor’s note), the first to do so, but we need to see more. As for me, I’m probably in better shape than I’ve ever been in the last two or three years. This is not due to my previous club, I am responsible. Like I said, getting here and getting to know the environment, I just had to do. I really enjoyed the challenges it gave me.

What was your brother like?

It was weird, I’ll be honest. I saw him yesterday. It was great to see her and give us news. I think the distance has brought us closer, knowing that he is not there all the time. As a result, we enjoy these moments together more. Not that I didn’t like it, but you get used to it after 10 or 11 years. It was very nice to see him, but he was very difficult to play against. I wouldn’t say I was trying to avoid him, but let’s say I wasn’t really trying to attack him.

What is changing winning for the first time in Montpellier ?

Coming back to the week in Perpignan, we thought we’d keep rolling after that. It is very important to enjoy the victory and prepare for the next week. We know we are playing against a difficult team, Toulon. We have good English players too. I can’t wait to see them, if I play. It is very important for us to build momentum. I keep saying this, but it is very important.

You talk about your experience and your guidance. Is it important in such a close game to give your advice to the younger players?

Since I’ve been here, I sometimes get the impression that the team thinks there’s only five minutes to play when there’s twenty minutes left. This may be a carryover from last year. It is very important for us to try to break this behavior and change it. Today we stayed calm. We got out on our own when we had to. There are things that we are very happy with, but there are also things that we can definitely improve and make it more difficult for the opposing teams. We are working hard to earn points and we need a little more time to do it. As you saw last week at Stade Français or Bayonne, we lead these games and we must be able to have the killer instinct to finish them.