England captain Owen Farrell is a doubt for Saracens in the last 16 of the Heineken Champions Cup against the Ospreys next Sunday after he aggravated an ankle injury during yesterday's victory over Harlequins.
Farrell limped off after 69 minutes having rolled his left ankle following a tackle and the club's director of rugby Mark McCall admitted it would be touch and go whether his captain would be available to lead the side against the Ospreys, who warmed up for the match with a bonus point victory over the Dragons.
“I have seen him in the changing room and he is OK,” said McCall. “We need to see what the problem is and to what degree he has aggravated it.
“It was a grade one strain before which is normally a seven-day turnaround. That was enough when he was in the final week of the Six Nations with England and was able to play against Ireland.
“If it is more than a grade one he will not play against the Ospreys. We would certainly not pick him if he is not right. We want to make a good decision on it. It will be great to have him, but if we do not we will just get on with it.”
Saracens guaranteed themselves a home draw in the Premiership playoffs with a bonus point victory over Harlequins at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium and one more win will mean they finish at the top of the table.
“Owen had a great game,” added McCall. “There was so much good stuff in attack which he was at the centre of and he made some great defensive interventions.”
No.8 Billy Vunipola was at the heart of the Saracens effort after a year in which he has been overlooked by England despite a lack of ball-carriers in the side.
“He is so determined,” said McCall. “He is in great physical condition and this is as good as I have seen him. He was superb and he has to do his talking on the field.
“The way he dealt with the disappointment of not being in the Six Nations squad was unbelievable. It can be a frustrating experience for an international player but he dealt with it really well. All he can do is play well.”
The race for the remaining two places in the top four looks like going to the wire.
Leicester cemented their place in third with their fifth consecutive Premiership victory as they secured a bonus point against Bristol at Mattioli Woods Welford Road.
Tigers ran in six tries against their fellow play-off hopefuls Bristol, with South Africa fly-half Handre Pollard pulling the strings. Anthony Watson and Ben Youngs were among the try scorers with hooker Julian Motoya grabbing a brace.
And Irish leapfrogged Northampton into fourth place after overcoming the Saints 37-22 at the Gtech Community Stadium in Brentford with flanker Tom Pearson, scoring one of their four tries.
Irish now have a three-week break before they face Saracens as they failed to qualify for the last 16 of the Champions Cup.
“It is important that we say grounded,” said London Irish's attack coach, Les Kiss, whose side have won six of the last seven Premiership matches. “We are in with a chance.”
