Farrell’s Saracens return a major boost for clash with Clermont Auvergne
SARACENS boss Mark McCall has confirmed that England international Owen Farrell is on course to be available after injury for next Saturday’s European Champions Cup semi-final showdown against Clermont Auvergne.
Fly-half Farrell has not played since suffering a knee problem during Saracens’ pool stage defeat to Clermont almost three months ago and missed the entire Six Nations as a result.
‘Owen Farrell should be fine for next week,’ said McCall after seeing his side brush off English Premiership play-off rivals Leicester 22-6 at Allianz Park.
Whether Farrell starts the last-four clash in Saint Etienne or is among the replacements remains to be seen, but he will undoubtedly strengthen Saracens’ bid to reach a second successive European final.
Saracens’ brief return to domestic business six days after their last-gasp Champions Cup quarter-final victory over Racing Metro went pretty much according to plan.
They reclaimed second place in the Premiership from Bath after tries either side of half-time by England number eight Billy Vunipola, centre Marcelo Bosch and wing Chris Wyles – plus two Charlie Hodgson conversions – left Leicester in disarray after they had led 6-0 through two Freddie Burns penalties.
Hodgson added a 62ndminute penalty as Leicester fell away in the second period, with Saracens scoring 15 unanswered points to ease home.
‘There is a little bit of frustration in the dressing room because we scored our third try after 49 minutes, and not much happened after that from an attacking point of view,’ McCall said.
‘But for me, the character, fight and energy we showed in the last 30 minutes to keep making tackles, it’s pretty special.
‘We have a group of guys who fight very hard for each other.
‘We had a little purple patch when we scored three tries in nine minutes and these players keep on pitching up and finding ways to win. Overall, we are pretty pleased.’
McCall, meanwhile, praised the a ‘phenomenal’ performance by England number eight Vunipola, who will undoubtedly be a key figure against the French opposition.
‘Clermont are a club I admire enormously. They have lost a lot of semi-finals and finals over the years but they keep coming back for more, they keep improving.
‘Their performance against Northampton (in the quarterfinals) was as good as anything that has been played by a club side this season, so we have got to try to find a way to put them under some pressure and put them in some difficult positions,’ added McCall.
For their part, Leicester are still hanging on to the fourth and final play-off spot with three games left in the league, but their remaining fixtures feature appointments with Wasps and Northampton.
Leicester rugby director Richard Cockerill was full of praise for McCall’s men.
‘You have to be accurate. If you make errors and give them (Saracens) field position, they are good enough to punish you.
‘They are a good side and they do what they do very well.
‘We put pressure on ourselves at times but they took their tries very well.
‘They work hard in defence and we found them very hard to break down.’