Saracens to controversially rest England stars for Champions Cup KO game

Saracens will rest their entire England contingent for Saturday’s Investec Champions Cup knockout clash at Toulon after choosing to prioritise the Gallagher Premiership.

Director of rugby Mark McCall revealed that Maro Itoje and Tom Willis will complete their mandatory post-Six Nations stand-down week when European action recommences for the round-of-16 fixtures.

And joining them on the sidelines will be Jamie George, Ben Earl and Elliot Daly even though the trio of England stars could be picked to face the Top 14 title challengers having not appeared in every match of the Championship.

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Saracens’ decision to field their strongest possible side against Leicester at Mattioli Woods Welford Road on Sunday resulted in a 29-22 victory that propelled them within two points of the top four, boosting their play-off hopes.

McCall revealed that a Champions Cup draw that would produce a quarter-final against Toulouse in the south of France as the prize for toppling Toulon signalled the need to focus on the Premiership.

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Investec Champions Cup

Toulon

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“We made the decision to do this halfway through the Six Nations. After we lost to Castres we got on the difficult side of the draw so we were always going to do this and those players are all off now for the next seven to 10 days,” McCall said.

“They will all miss Toulon. We don’t have to do that but we will. We think it’s unwise not to rest them. It’s very important that they get rest.

“They have to do it in one of the three games after the Six Nations so we took the decision to prioritise the Premiership. Your hand is forced, to some extent. We’re just realistic about what’s possible.

“A lot of the English teams have done this, it’s not just us. We had our big game at Tottenham last weekend and it was essential that we had our best players playing.

“We will send our best available team to Toulon. We’re not going to send a pack of 18-year-olds out against Toulon, but we’ll also give it a crack with absolutely nothing to lose.”

Itoje, the Saracens and England captain, received treatment twice and McCall admitted he is in need of some time off having played every minute of the last 14 matches for club and country.

“In an ideal world you would not have to play him in back-to-back games, but we took the decision halfway through the Six Nations and he was on board with it. Now he needs seven or 10 days’ rest, which he’s going to get,” McCall said.

Leicester boss Michael Cheika admitted his side had been outmuscled in the tight.

“We knew it would be a battle to the end and that’s what it turned out to be. We lost the quarter contest like the ruck and scrum and that hurt us,” Cheika said.