This Saturday’s Investec Champions Cup trip to Munster is his club’s final fixture before Steve Borthwick’s January 14 announcement of his England Guinness Six Nations squad.
Saracens veteran Alex Goode has been ruled out for 10-12 weeks after undergoing surgery on a quad injury.
“We had a lot of disruption to deal with this week. We lost our starting props in the last 24 hours, we lost Fergus on Wednesday and then Alex in the warm-up,” boss Mark McCall said.
.Leicester dug deep to withstand a Saracens fightback and register their first victory at StoneX Stadium since 2018 with a 32-29 win that underlined their Gallagher Premiership title credentials.
As Callum Chick led the Newcastle Falcons in a raucous rendition of Blaydon Races, the song they belt out in the changing rooms after a win, he realised that half the players didn’t know the words. That was hardly surprising as the victory over Exeter Chiefs ended a debilitating 25-game losing run in the Gallagher Premiership for a squad that is undergoing yet another rebuild, this time under the direction of Steve Diamond, the new director of rugby.
Rugby's new troubleshooter says revitalising the win-less Falcons may be his biggest job yet.
The lobby of the England team hotel in Cape Town was as busy as a railway station concourse when RugbyPass dropped by in midweek to shoot the breeze with Nathan Michelow, the No8 who has brewed up a storm with his performances at the World Rugby U20 Championship.
RFU Championship 2023/24 Dream Team forward Harry Wilson is on the verge of securing a move to Saracens.