Saracens will not abandon their trademark team bonding trips abroad despite Billy Vunipola’s arrest in Majorca.
England No8 Vunipola was tasered twice and arrested for resisting police detainment in a bar in Palma last weekend.
The 31-year-old was fined €240 and handed a four-month suspended sentence, allowed to return to England after a fast-track court case.
Saracens reprimanded a mortified Vunipola and warned him on his future conduct, but stopped short of imposing any major punishment.
Rugby director Mark McCall has now insisted that sometimes players who show remorse deserve “second and even third chances”.
Saracens have cleared Vunipola to return to action and McCall expects to be able to select the 75-cap loose forward for Saturday’s Premiership trip to Bristol.
Six-time Premiership champions Saracens have built their north London dynasty on enjoying time off the field just as much as working hard on it.
And McCall insisted the club will not move away from their long-standing tradition of extended squad away trips.
Confirming Saracens’ traditional jaunts will still be on the cards in future, McCall said: “I don’t really have much more to add, but as the club said, we’ve met with him and it’s closed as far as we’re concerned, and we’ll get on with the rugby now.
“The only thing that I would add to what was said, is that when somebody does something wrong, the first reaction doesn’t always have to be to punish that person.
“Sometimes you’ve got to understand, maybe why what happened, happened, and look to support and help. So, it doesn’t always have to be punishment.”
Saracens have sworn by the tighter bonds built by their squad trips, and McCall insisted the Majorca weekend still proved a benefit, despite Vunipola’s arrest.
The Men In Black edged out Bath 15-12 at The Rec on Friday, April 26, then enjoyed their weekend away.
Now the StoneX Stadium side will travel to in-form Bristol on Saturday, with two matches left of the regular season to secure a play-off place.
“Going down to The Rec and getting a result kick-started what turned out to be a really positive weekend for the group, to spend some quality time together away from training,” said McCall.
“That’s something that the players look forward to doing as it has been part of what we have done for a long time.
“To be honest, I think other clubs are doing it as well. We’re just trying to connect the group a little bit more deeply than you can sometimes get in your day-to-day work.
“It was a really positive couple of days, despite what happened.”
The RFU could yet impose a suspension on Vunipola for bringing the sport into disrepute, but English rugby chiefs are still reviewing the incident.
McCall expects to have Vunipola available for the season run-in though, which would allow the long-serving back-rower to end his 11 years at Saracens on his own terms before joining Montpellier this summer.
“It’s just felt like a normal week to be honest,” said McCall. “Obviously I don’t know what goes on when they leave the club, but it’s just felt normal, and we get on with it.”
