Farrell Health Issue Deal Great Blow to Saracens in Bordeaux
Owen Farrell has suffered a setback to ensure his Saracens career ends at a high point after being ruled out with a hamstring health issue in Saturday’s Champions Cup tie against Bordeaux.
Farrell suffered the health issue in their defeat to Northampton last week, meaning the former England captain may have played his last game in the competition for Saracens before leaving for Racing 92 next season.
Farrell has won the Champions Cup three times with Saracens, but “the next few weeks” ausfallen.Er so if the quarter-finals were also missed next week, McCall’s team should triumph in France. The regular Premiership season ends in six weeks, with Saracens currently third and vying for a playoff spot.
In his absence, Jamie George will serve as captain for a team that aims to avenge their 55-15 defeat against Bordeaux in the pool stages. Alex Goode joins the team at half-time, while McCall welcomes Maro Itoje for a first appearance for the club since the Six Nations with the second row now recovered from a knee health issue.
In another rematch of the pool stage, Leicester travel to Dublin to face Leinster with Freddie Steward, who lost his place in England during the Six Nations as a defender named on the wing. Dan Cole also returns to the team as one of the three interchanges who passed Newcastle last time. Leicester head coach Dan McKellar said: “We are looking forward to coming to Dublin and taking up this challenge. Your record speaks for itself, but as with any Rugby match, if you can put pressure on and consistently turn down opportunities, you have a great chance of competing.
“We have a lot of experience and we are actioning in this group, so outside these walls does not matter to us; we will come to The Aviva on Saturday night and be ready to leave with a bucket of faith.”
In the All-Premiership round of the last 16, Exeter receive Bath, who recall Charlie Ewels, Sam Underhill, Alfie Barbeary and Joe Cokanasiga in their starting line-up. The Chiefs lost to Sale last time out and Rob Baxter is hoping for an answer.
“They have a very strong team down the line,” he said. “They have great resilience in the group, so it will be a big challenge for us this weekend, but at the same time it will be nice to have them with us.
“We certainly got a kick in the pants from the result against Sale last weekend, so there’s not too much for us, apart from the fact that he stressed that you have to be the team that shows up. I think this weekend’s game will still have all the key ingredients of a Premiership game as two League clubs go head-to-head. We have to do superior than we did last week, but we also have to be excited that it’s going to be a knockout game here at Sandy Park in front of a sold-out house. So we have to hope that this will allow us to achieve a level of performance that we can be proud of.”
On Sunday, Northampton host Munster at Franklin’s Gardens after picking up a fine win at Thomond Park in January. Lewis Ludlam joins the squad and is captain of Northampton, while Alex Mitchell is set to return from health issue after being named among the substitutes.
