Why the Welsh will always love England brothers Mako and Billy Vunipola

By Martha Kelner for the Daily Mail

Published: 17:31 EST, 23 September 2015 | Updated: 05:41 EST, 24 September 2015

There will be few prouder places, and none as conflicted, as Pontypool in the Welsh valleys on Saturday when three of their most famous sons star in the Rugby World Cup showdown between England and Wales.

Most will be supporting Wales and their No 8 Toby Faletau, but for some their affection for England's Vunipola brothers, Mako and Billy - who lived in Pontypool before moving to Bristol in their teens - has left them with divided loyalties.

'I just want Toby to go easy on Mako and Billy and vice versa,' said Jane Simons, who looked after the Vunipolas, driving them to school and rugby practice when they arrived in Wales from the Polynesian island of Tonga in 2000, aged nine and seven respectively.

Mako and Billy Vunipola (left and right) are set to square up against Toby Faletau at Twickenham on Saturday

Mako and Billy Vunipola (left and right) are set to square up against Toby Faletau at Twickenham on Saturday

Mako and Billy pose for a photo with Toby after their families left Tonga to make Pontypool home in 2000

Mako and Billy pose for a photo with Toby after their families left Tonga to make Pontypool home in 2000

Their father Fe'ao had represented Tonga in the Rugby World Cup in Britain the previous year alongside brother Kuli, father of Toby. Both stayed on, Fe'ao signing for Pontypool and Kuli for Ebbw Vale, another former mining town 15 miles up the road.

'We sent for our wives and children a year later,' said Kuli. 'It was a way for us to give our children a better life, and particularly education.' For a time the children all lived together, riding bikes down the steep hills of Pontypool and playing touch rugby on the green next to the Methodist church before mass on a Sunday.

Kuli, who works night shifts as a security guard, is a giant of a man and does not say a great deal, but his smile betrays disbelief that three men hailing from the same family in a remote Tongan village have reached such heights.

Brothers Billy and Mako Vunipola take part in Tuesday's England training session at Pennyhill Park
Mako Vunipola passes the ball during training ahead of Saturday's clash with Wales

Brothers Billy and Mako Vunipola take part in Tuesday's England training session at Pennyhill Park

'I didn't think they'd be good enough to play rugby for Wales and England because in Tonga there are barely 100,000 people compared with millions here,' he said.

Two years ago the Faletau family moved from their modest terraced house to a detached new-build on a housing estate on the outskirts of Pontypool but their flowerbed is the most colourful and well-tended in sight. 'We like to have people round for barbecues,' said Kuli. 'Mako and Billy's parents, Fe'ao and Singa, were round last week and we were joking, 'Wales are going to smash you', and they were saying the same about England.'

The Vunipolas moved to Bristol in 2005 but regularly return to Pontypool and recently helped out with an outreach day at the church. They had a hard decision to make when it came to picking which international rugby side to represent.

Faletau and Mako Vunipola pose with James Bond actor Daniel Craig during British and Irish Lions duty

Faletau and Mako Vunipola pose with James Bond actor Daniel Craig during British and Irish Lions duty

England brothers 

3 - The Vunipolas are the third brothers to play in a World Cup for England after Rory and Tony Underwood, and Ben and Tom Youngs

Mako was born in New Zealand and Billy in Australia, so they could have represented either of those countries, or Wales. But they opted for England, much to the surprise of Dawson Jones, a junior coach at Pontypool RFC.

'When Billy was in Year Six I took him to Brecon Rugby Club one Saturday - he was always up early and he turned to me and said: 'Uncle Daws, I've been thinking, when I grow up if I'm very, very good I'm going to play for Australia because I was born there. If I'm only good I'll play for Wales and if I'm not so good I'll play for Tonga'.

'At no time then did he mention England. When he left Wales for Bristol he wrote a lovely speech thanking us for what we'd done for him and he finished it with, 'And I promise I'll never play for England'. So I won't be sending that to Stuart Lancaster.'

Jane Simons and husband Terry, the Pontypool kitman known as Tiger, can regularly be found driving around town in Jane's 20-year-old Toyota estate car.

Billy Vunipola (pictured) and his brother Mako opted to play for England to the surprise of Dawson Jones (right)

Billy Vunipola (pictured) and his brother Mako opted to play for England to the surprise of Dawson Jones (right)

Over the years she has been an unofficial guardian to the Tongan rugby players who settled in the town, 20 miles north east of Cardiff, but she is most fond of the Vunipolas. 'They were massive, you could never describe them as little boys,' she said. 'But they were lovely, very respectful of their elders. I had a bungalow which I let them stay at and I used to take Mako, Billy and their sister Ana to school.'

Jane has kept letters written on Disney notepaper by the boys in 2001 when they were briefly back in Tonga.

'Their father couldn't get a work permit and they went back to Tonga and thought they were never coming back,' said Jane. 'I encouraged Singa to go to the theological college in Cardiff and she became a minister and Fe'ao a quantity surveyor, so they were able to get visas.'

Mako Vunipola shares a joke with Owen Farrell, Jamie George and Joe Launchbury during training

Mako Vunipola shares a joke with Owen Farrell, Jamie George and Joe Launchbury during training

Like all Tongans, religion is a key influence in their lives - the family moved to Bristol when Singa got her first ministerial posting there - and Arthur Crane, a board member of Pontypool Methodist Church, recalls all three boys sitting on the front pew for services.

'I remember one of our ministers asked them what they wanted to be when they grew up and Toby said he wanted to be a Methodist minister. Even now, he will bring his young lady to our church occasionally when he's got a window of opportunity - and for coffee mornings.

'He's very unassuming and looks after his niece, who is about four, playing the drums with her.

'The Tongans are very family orientated, looking after their elderly and children, a bit like Wales as a whole used to be back in the 1940s.'

The feeling of the town ahead of their rugby heroes going up against each other is best summed up by Jones. He said: 'The ideal outcome on Saturday would be a phenomenal game where they each score a try but Wales still win by one.'

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