England Rugby World Cup star close to return to action with Saracens

Saracens and England back-row Ben Earl’s recovery from injury is on track and he is set to return to action before the end of the year, according to Sarries’ director of rugby Mark McCall.

Earl, who was one of England’s star performers during their recent Rugby World Cup campaign in France, sustained a knee injury during the warm-up ahead of Saracens’ Premiership clash with Harlequins at Twickenham Stoop on November 18.

Recovering well

The 25-year-old left the ground on crutches and ha an operation, but his recovery has gone according to plan.

“Hopefully, we are going to have Ben back quite soon,” said McCall. “I think Newcastle (December 30) is a possibility for Ben, probably Leicester the week after.”

Saracens started their Champions Cup campaign with a loss to the Bulls in Pretoria last weekend and will be determined to bounce back with a victory over Connacht at the StoneX Stadium on Saturday before taking on Bordeaux-Begles and Lyon in January.

England second-row Nick Isiekwe is close to a return from injury, but there is bad news with regards to other injured players.

Front-row duo Eroni Mawi and Marco Riccioni are set to be sidelined with calf and neck injuries respectively, along with with back-row Tom Willis, who has had knee surgery.

“We are having to play a few players more than we would like because of those injuries,” added McCall.

“Hopefully, we are going to have Nick Isiekwe back quite soon, Ben Earl quite soon, but some of the others like Callum Hunter-Hill and Tom Willis are a little further away.

“Alex Lozowski is out for the vast majority of the season, but we have still got good players and good personnel.

“We are playing European Cup matches now and nobody wants a break, but we will find some more time for some of those players who played quite a lot of time in the World Cup.”

Praise for Jake White

McCall also praised Bulls director of rugby Jake White after he criticised his team’s fans for booing Saracens captain Owen Farrell during last weekend’s Champions Cup clash at Lotus Versfeld in Pretoria and also apologised for their behaviour.

Farrell was also booed during England’s World Cup matches in France. Since then, he decided to take a break from Test rugby in order to prioritise his and his family’s mental well-being.

The 32-year-old received the same treatment from the Bulls faithful, especially when taking shots at goal.

“I haven’t been at Loftus before, so I don’t know if they do that with all kickers,” McCall said.

“Maybe they do. It was good of Jake to come out and say what he said.”

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