By George! Jamie’s ‘love’ conquers all
ENGLAND STAR BACK IN FOR SARACENS
JAMIE GEORGE keeps his promise to Saracens this weekend by going straight from the Six Nations into English rugby’s second division.
The England and Lions hooker was quick to pledge allegiance to the fallen champions when they were relegated from the Premiership for salary-cap breaches, saying: “I love the club, I’m committed to the club.”
And at the first opportunity to play for them in the Championship, George has put his hand up and will start the match against Richmond tomorrow.
Saracens director of rugby Mark McCall, below, said: “Our international players have been brilliant.
“They want to come back, they want to roll their sleeves up, they want to be part of it with their team-mates.
“They have all been in the club this week and they are all really keen to play a substantial role in the games ahead.
“Clearly it was an up and down tournament for the England team and we’re glad to get them back.
“I’m really encouraged with how they’ve been this week and the appetite they have to muck in.”
George, however, will be alone in going straight from the humbling 32-18 defeat in Dublin in the Six Nations last Saturday to a London derby at the Athletic Ground.
Owen Farrell and Billy Vunipola are recovering from head knocks sustained in England’s heavy loss to Ireland.
Sarries have decided to hold back England trio Maro Itoje, Elliot Daly and Mako Vunipola for battles to come as the club attempt to recover from the shock of losing their opener to Cornish Pirates.
McCall added: “We have got a lot of big games coming up and we know there is no margin for error, given start we made in competition, with only top two getting into play-offs. “Fortunately, we have a lot of players who relish playing in big games. “They are going to be playing their rugby here, not anywhere else. “These couple of months coming up are really important in lots of ways for us, primarily to make sure the the the the we get back Premiership.”
Up in the big league, England fly-half George Ford will start for Leicester against Newcastle tomorrow, while Red Rose team-mates Anthony Watson and Charlie Ewels are due to line up for Bath at London Irish today.
Ollie Lawrence slots back into the Worcester midfield against Northampton.
Paolo Odogwu will see action for the first time in 11 into the weeks off the Wasps bench against Sale after being overlooked by national coach Eddie Jones.
Meanwhile, England and Great Britain Sevens player Phil Burgess has announced his retirement with immediate effect in order to spend more time with his family.
Five years after winning an Olympic silver medal in Rio de Janeiro, the 32-year-old has decided not to push on for the Tokyo Games.