Itoje to be back for start of Six Nations

Saracen to return from broken jaw in January Team meet to clear air after Clermont debacle

Maro Itoje will return from his broken jaw earlier than expected in mid-january – in time for Saracens’ Champions Cup games as well as Six Nations duty.

But such is the switchback nature of his club’s season that the good news was offset by the gloomy tidings that scrum-half Richard Wigglesworth has been ruled out for up to two months with a hip injury sustained in Monday night’s debacle against Clermont Auvergne and that Brad Barritt will miss the return leg on Sunday at the Stade Marcel Michelin with concussion.

Itoje’s potential availability for the closing pool games against Ospreys (away) and Northampton (home) is the sliver of a silver lining that Saracens’ fans will latch on to. The World Rugby Player of the Year nominee was led from the field against Harlequins 10 days ago with blood streaming from his mouth and cheek. The initial prognosis was a 10-week lay-off, which put Itoje’s participation with England in the Six Nations in jeopardy.

“Maro is probably three or four weeks away,” said Saracens director of rugby, Mark Mccall. “He went to see the specialist, who said a maximum of six weeks and he’s already had a week and a half.”

The defending European champions are in need of a pick-me-up following the record loss against Clermont, their sixth successive defeat marking their worst run in 14 years. The healing process began on Tuesday when the players gave up a day off and met together for lunch in a local restaurant.

“We got a few things off our chest,” said hooker Jamie George. “It’s best to get everyone together after a game like that because everyone has their own feelings and everyone is hurting but it’s better to hurt together and then you can move past it.

“We’ve cleared the air in terms of what we need to get right on the field. We have a good plan going into Clermont on Sunday. We have definitely learnt a lesson.”

There is little doubt that the manner of the 46-14 defeat was a huge shock to the Saracens system. Mccall, though, insists that there is no sense of panic or despondency among the players, revealing that the side trained “brilliantly” at their first post-clermont session yesterday afternoon.

Saracens have gone back to basics in order to ride the storm, paring back their game to a few essentials – set-piece, defence, kick-chase – the very elements that have underpinned their success.

“I don’t think we’re a club that overreacts but I don’t think we’re a club that sweeps things under the Speedy recovery: Maro Itoje broke his jaw during the Harlequins match 10 days ago carpet either,” said Mccall. “It was important to see what we could do better. But, of course, we are wounded. It would be a big problem if players didn’t feel wounded by what happened on Monday night. We’ve got a group that really, really care about things.

“They trained brilliantly this afternoon. You wouldn’t have known that Monday happened if you’d seen them today. We don’t want a group that has lots of selfpity and feel sorry for themselves. We want a group that has balls and sits up straight and gets on with it. And I think we’ve got that kind of group. It’s obviously a big challenge but we’ve given ourselves certain things that we want to do well in the game. Having that simplicity and that clarity is important. The players are right behind it. It has been challenging but we probably don’t see it as you see it.”