Billy Vunipola admits fan confrontation was ‘quite scary’ but accepts he may have to get used to protests

Billy Vunipola has said that being confronted by an apparent Munster fan following Saracens’ 32-16 victory over the Irish province on Saturday was “quite scary”, but the England international accepts that it is something he may have to get used to after supporters voiced their opposition to his religious views.

The Saracens No 8 claimed the man-of-the-match award as he scored the try that secured Saturday’s Heineken European Champions Cup semi-final victory, having experienced numerous protests from the large contingent of Munster fans that travelled to the Ricoh Arena for the match.

Vunipola was cheered by a large section of Saracens fans, but that was drowned out by the boos from Munster supporters, and there were also a number rainbow flags in the crowd to show support for the LGBTQ community that found itself the target of Israel Folau’s latest homophobic attack on social media – something that has led to the Australian rugby player being sacked.

Vunipola expressed his support for Folau as they share the same Christian beliefs, with his comments in Instagram attracting significant criticism as well as formal warnings from Saracens and the Rugby Football Union.

But the incident following Saturday’s match has split opinion, with many believing that the pitch invasion does little to promote the equality image that rugby union is attempting to portray. A man wearing a Munster shirt approached Vunipola while he jogged around the pitch celebrating the victory, and gestured at him offensively by swearing in his face before running away.

“Psychologically I think it wasn’t as hard as many people think,” Vunipola told BBC Radio Five Live. “It’s quite a motivating factor that people were booing me – not that I use that solely as my reason – but I wanted to back up my words and show my teammates that I didn’t mean to distract them.

“A lot of people say that what I did this week was a selfish act and I didn’t want my teammates to suffer because of that so that was probably more of a motivating factor for me. I was going out there and just performing to the level that I can play to and hopefully I did that today.

“It was quite scary but I guess people say I put my foot in it so I have to deal with it. It’s not something that I’m afraid of, obviously it’s something that I probably have to expect will keep happening.”

Asked if he regretted his Instagram post, Vunipola appeared to be at conflict with himself, given the response it has triggered and people it has upset against his undying faith in his religion.

“It’s a difficult question for me to answer because I said it this week that my faith is what got me to this position,” Vunipola added. “I don’t think that anything else would have helped as much as what I believe in as much as my faith so that’s something that I’ll stick by.”

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But he did admit that he will think twice in the future about expressing such views publicly again. “Probably not as honest as I have been with things that probably hurt a lot of people,” he said. “I know that now, it was probably an insensitive comment to make but also something that I strongly believe in. But also I’m not going to change the person that I am, the happy-go-lucky person that I am. You also see that in the media, the way that I play my game because that’s how I play my best rugby.”

European Premier Club Rugby have confirmed that no criminal charges will be pressed against the pitch invader, who has been served with a stadium ban from the Ricoh Arena.

An EPCR spokesman said: “A spectator was detained by stadium authorities and interviewed by police after an unauthorised entry to the field of play after the end of the Heineken Champions Cup semi-final between Saracens and Munster Rugby. The police concluded that the spectator had not committed a criminal offence. He has received a stadium ban from the Ricoh Arena and his details will be shared with the appropriate parties for them to consider further action.”

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Munster refused to comment on the matter on Saturday evening, with the club’s press officer refusing questions on the matter and claiming that it “could have been a Saracens fan wearing a Munster shirt”.

The club eventually issued a statement 24 hours after the incident, in which they appeared to wash their hands of any association with the individual.

A club statement read: “Aligned with EPCR, Munster Rugby do not condone the entry of any spectator to the field of play.

“The incident following the Champions Cup semi-final at the Ricoh Arena on Saturday involved a spectator wearing a Munster jersey.

“The province wishes to confirm that the identified spectator is not a member of the Munster Rugby Supporters Club, and does not hold a season ticket with the province.

“Munster Rugby will investigate the incident further.”

Saracens boss Mark McCall also refused to be drawn on the incident, but did add that he is keen to draw a line under the matter and focus on rugby matters ahead of next month’s third European final for the club in four seasons. “Billy was outstanding today, so were all of his team-mates to be honest,” McCall said. “We got all the big parts of our game right today and a great team effort.

“As a group we were determined not to let this week pass us by because we work incredibly hard to be involved in weeks like this one, games like this one. And we ended up having a brilliant week and you can see that in the performance today.

“You could see how tight we were today. The club dealt with it, it was dealt with decisively, it was dealt with quickly and it was dealt with, in my opinion, fairly.

“Then we just got on with the rugby and that’s what we’re here to do, get on with the rugby. We had a great week and played well today and now we look forward.”