Mako Vunipola: England prop confirms 'easy decision' to stay at relegated Saracens

Mako Vunipola has confirmed he plans to remain at Saracens and is confident the club will soon be "fighting for Championships" once again.

The reigning Premiership champions will drop into the Championship at the end of this season after being automatically relegated for breaching salary cap rules.

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England No 8 Billy Vunipola confirmed in March he is "definitely staying" at Saracens and hopes to help the club secure an immediate return to the Premiership. Mako has now followed suit. The pair both have contracts with Sarries which run until 2022.

Their cousin Manu, who plays fly-half, signed a contract extension last week with Sarries, which runs until 2023.

Saracens director of rugby Mark McCall said: "Mako is a world-class player who is able to combine an innate understanding of the game with brutal physicality and an incredible skill set.

"The Vunipola family are an integral part of the Saracens story; Mako is a hugely respected member of the squad who shows genuine care for his team-mates. We are delighted he has committed his future here."

Vunipola's decision to stay at Sarries is a further boost for the club after England hooker Jamie George and Scotland winger Sean Maitland both signed contract extensions last week.

The club has been in flux following their relegation with a host of players leaving.

Brad Barritt, Will Skelton, Ben Spencer, Rhys Carre and George Kruis are among the players who have announced their departures, while Nick Isiekwe, Alex Lozowski, Jack Singleton and Nick Tompkins are all leaving on loan.

Despite the departures, Vunipola is confident Saracens, who have won three of the last four Champions Cup, will soon be back competing with Europe's elite.

Explaining his decision to stay at Allianz Park, Vunipola said: "This club has been very good to me and are very good to me.

"They've looked after me, given me the opportunity to be the player that I've been and given me the platform to keep improving.

"I have no doubt the club will be back and fighting for Championships and that's part of the reason why this decision was quite easy.

"It wasn't all too difficult for me as I could see the group we had and the strength of the club. I've no doubt we'll attack this challenge like we have done with the other challenges we've had before."