FAZ CAN’T WAIT FOR SARRIES COMEBACK

OWEN FARRELL is “itching” to play again after being given the runaround as England waterboy by team-mate Jamie George. Farrell (above, left) starts for Saracens at Harlequins tomorrow, having been restricted to running on messages and liquid refreshment in two of England’s three autumn internationals. The playmaker’s absence from the team, which beat Argentina and Samoa, was part of Eddie Jones’ pre-arranged plan to limit his post-lions workload.

But it has left him “desperate to play, itching to get out there,” according to George (above, right), who revealed he had taken the opportunity to get his own back on his clubmate. “Faz is one of those people who is just good at everything,” said the Lions hooker. “When we were younger, we used to have a kicking and throwing competition. It never ended very well for me – I used to lose both.

“So did I ask him for water when he was running it on? I made a point of it. I also asked him for sticky spray, which I have never used in my life, so he had to run a few extra laps!” Saracens need both men to be at their best given the European champions are 80 minutes from losing three successive league games for the first time since 2010.

George’s England challenge is now to dislodge rival hooker and England captain Dylan Hartley, even though he has been named Six Nations skipper.

But George added: “The Six Nations is a long time away and three months is a long time in rugby.”