KNOCKOUT BLOW
George suffers concussion to give Borthwick a hooker headache ++ Daly and Mako also doubts
JAMIE GEORGE was at the centre of a head injury storm as Saracens were beaten up in Edinburgh and new England head coach Steve Borthwick suffered a triple Six Nations injury scare.
Hooker George and his England team-mate Elliot Daly were both forced off and another member of Borthwick’s squad in Mako Vunipola withdrew before kick-off.
This was a horror evening for Saracens and Borthwick and the latter may now be without three of his most experienced players for his first game in charge against Scotland on February 4.
Vunipola and Daly both took knocks, but the treatment of George was the big talking point. The forward went too high on Edinburgh flanker Luke Crosbie in the first half and was flattened. George was simultaneously shown a yellow card and sent for a head injury assessment (HIA) before surprisingly returning after 10 minutes in the sin bin.
George played out the rest of the opening 40 minutes but was removed at the break after the independent matchday doctor stepped in and told Saracens he could not carry on. It once again brought into question rugby’s management of head injuries at the highest level.
Given the doctor judged George to be showing signs of a concussion, he will have to go through a mandatory stand-down period of a minimum of 12 days.
Even if George passes rugby’s return-to-play protocols, he will have to have a full 12-day break. That means he would be back available for Borthwick on the eve of the Scotland match and would be unlikely to run out at Twickenham. Luke Cowan-Dickie’s ankle problem means Borthwick now has a real hooking issue. Uncapped pair George McGuigan and Jack Walker are the other hookers in the current England squad.
Saracens director of rugby Mark McCall said: ‘ Jamie was a concussion but I don’t know what happened. It appears he passed his HIA and someone has had a further look at it and thought it better he were withdrawn. Of course, that’s the right decision.
‘Mako had a foot problem. Elliot was a slight hamstring strain. I’m not sure how serious it is.’
George may also face a ban if the citing officer believes his high shot on Crosbie was worthy of red.
The only saving grace for Saracens, without the banned Owen Farrell, was they secured a Champions Cup knockout spot despite defeat. They will host Welsh side Ospreys in the last 16. Edinburgh will visit Leicester.
In front of Scotland head coach Gregor Townsend, Saracens were outpowered and their discipline was shocking. George, Marco Riccioni and Maro Itoje all spent time in the sin bin. ‘ I’m really disappointed with the performance,’ performance ’ McCall added. added ‘I’m not sure why we were so passive defensively. It wasn’t like us.’
Edinburgh raced into a 10-0 lead, Dave Cherry crashing over and Blair Kinghorn converting and kicking a penalty. Then came yellows for George and Riccioni. The latter did not return from his HIA after his high hit on Grant Gilchrist. Riccioni could also have seen red. Saracens were blown away yet only trailed 10-6 at the break, with Alex Goode kicking two penalties.
Scotland and Edinburgh captain Jamie Ritchie had a try ruled out before the break, his team dominant with forward pair Crosbie and Pierre Schoeman.
Kinghorn and Goode swapped successful kicks with poor misses. But Schoeman smashed his way over and there was still time for yellow cards to Edinburgh lock Sam Skinner and his opposite number Itoje. Ben Earl grabbed a late consolation try for Saracens. lLEICESTER’S
title hero Freddie Burns, who scored the winning goal in last season’s final against Saracens, will leave the Tigers next month after agreeing an early release from his contract to join New Zealand side Highlanders. Burns said: ‘ This decision has been unbelievably hard. I will miss everything about being a part of this club. At this stage in my career, the opportunity was too good to turn down.’