Billy Vunipola inspires Saracens to overcome Sale on difficult return for Alex Sanderson

Saracens 25 Sale Sharks 14

Billy Vunipola declared he is "fighting" for his England career after a player-of-the-match performance in Saracens' victory over Sale.

Playing with a point to prove, the 60-cap international appears determined to force his way into Eddie Jones' plans for the Six Nations following a standout display at the StoneX Stadium.

Admitting his omission from the autumn Tests was “my own doing”, it was Vunipola, on his return from a knee injury that kept him out for four weeks, who proved the catalyst for Saracens’ success.

The magic moment came when his looping run and beautifully timed pass set up Sean Maitland for a try to give the hosts an unassailable 18-3 lead.

“Billy was really good again and it is a series of games he has put together for the club all season,” Mark McCall, the Saracens director of rugby, said.

“He has been inspirational for us all the way through. Eddie [Jones, the England head coach] has just asked him to keep on backing up performances and he certainly did that.”

Vunipola, himself, told BT Sport that there was no one to blame but himself for his England exclusion.

“There is always going to be a little bit of hurt, but all of it is my own doing. There is no one else to blame. I am here fighting for my spot and that is all I can do,” he said.

And while Vunipola was awarded player of the match, team-mate Max Malins, also in the England picture, also shone with another energetic performance that left defenders bamboozled.

Malins was relentless. In the black Saracens kit, complete with tights, his appearance was almost cat-like as he jumped up from full-back to challenge for high balls.

His predatory reflexes also came to the fore as he pounced to cross the line for Saracens’ final try.

Malins set the tone for the Saracens backs against a dogged and physical Sharks side who lacked the same sort of finesse.
And any ribbing the Premiership’s top scorer may receive from wearing tights is now likely to diminish.

On an unforgiving artificial surface – Malins was joined by three others opting to wear tights under their shorts: Sean Maitland, Rotimi Segun and Nick Tompkins.

Alex Sanderson's return to Saracens proved to be a far from happy reunion. Sale's director of rugby spent 13 years in North London where he joined as assistant coach in 2008 until he replaced Steve Diamond at the Sharks in the middle of last season.

Sanderson was particularly disappointed with his side in the first half despite a strong opening 10 minutes.

The hosts led 13-0 at half-time thanks to a Vincent Koch try converted by Alex Lozowski and a further two penalties from the centre.

“I am hugely disappointed. And even more so when it is against your old mates,” said Sanderson. “The fundamentals of our game haven’t been right all season. I am fed up saying that the set-piece needs to be better and how we need to execute in the right areas to get better. We just need to get better moving forward.”

The second half looked like there would be more misery for the visitors when wing Byron McGuigan saw red for striking Tompkins, then pushing him into the hoardings.

“Byron trains at UFC on his time off so maybe he just had a flashback of some sort of ultimate fighting session he’s done. I haven’t spoken to him,” Sanderson said.

“He’s a great lad, one of the hardest workers. The emotion, the occasion, the fact we hadn’t scored – I was feeling that, too – probably got the better of him.”

A man down, Sale seemed to rediscover their purpose, at least offering some consolation for Sanderson on what proved to be a miserable occasion.

“The positives were that I am proud of the boys having stuck in the fight, how they battled with 14 men and how physical they were as they always are. That was brilliant,” he added.

Match details

Saracens: Malins, Maitland, Lozowski, Tompkins, Segun, Goode, Davies, M. Vunipola, Lewis, Koch, Itoje, Swinson, Isiekwe, Wray, B. Vunipola.
Replacements: Pifeleti, Barrington, Clarey, McFarland, Earl, van Zyl, Morris, Lewington.

Sale Sharks: Hammersley, Roebuck, S. James, van Rensburg, McGuigan, MacGinty, Quirke, Rodd, van der Merwe, Schonert, du Preez, De Jager, Ross, B. Curry, D. Du Preez.
Replacements: Ashman, Harrison, Oosthuizen, J. Du Preez, T. Curry, Warr, R. Du Preez, L. James.

Referee: Tom Foley