Farrell is confident that Saracens will play Ospreys in the Champions Cup
The director of rugby at Saracens, Mark McCall, stated on Wednesday that the team is getting more and more optimistic that fly-half Owen Farrell will be ready for this weekend’s Champions Cup match against the Ospreys.
In the Premiership victory against London rivals Harlequins last weekend, England captain Farrell hobbled off 10 minutes from the end due to an ankle injury.
Owen participated in some of the training today (Wednesday), so McCall expressed optimism that he might be available this weekend.
There were worries that the injured ankle the 31-year-old fly-half suffered while representing England in the Six Nations had gotten worse.
“No scan was necessary for Owen. After the agony, he felt significantly better on Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday “explained McCall.
He’s our captain, and throughout the weekend, he played fantastically and showed excellent team leadership. So let’s hope,” he continued.
Following a two-year absence due to their demotion from the Premiership for violating the financial regulations of the English top-flight, Saracens are once again in the knockout stages of Europe’s best club rugby union championship, which they last won in 2019.
Together with Farrell, Saracens players Maro Itoje, Jamie George, Mako Vunipola, and Max Malins participated in England’s Six Nations campaign.
They have been away for eight weeks, but they have always done a great job of re-engaging with the team when they return, he said.
That was evident last Saturday when they all performed well against Harlequins. All of them are excited to participate in a quarterfinal in Europe, which we haven’t done in a while. The Champions Cup may return to its original format of groups of four teams rather than the current two pools of 12 teams, according to the organizers.
To be honest, it was great, McCall said of the previous arrangement. “It was a tremendous accomplishment to break out of your group, and you had to work really hard to do it. Entering the round of 16 today arguably isn’t as impressive an accomplishment as entering the quarterfinals was all those years ago. Personally, I like the old format better.
AFP
