England captain Maro Itoje will return to captain a Saracens side containing four of his international team-mates during the Guinness Six Nations when they host Harlequins in the Gallagher Premiership on Saturday.
Saracens player ratings: A dark day for former European heavyweights Saracens, who fell to an embarrassing 32-24 home defeat to an understrength Castres outfit.
There is no return for O’Mahony, whose last appearance came in the December 13 defeat at Castres.
Round six of the Gallagher Premiership promises to deliver another thrilling weekend of action, with teams looking to solidify their positions ahead of a break before the Test rugby returns in November.
Saracens looked set to be agonisingly beaten by a single point following a Lam-ball home team performance illuminated by a Fitz Harding hat-trick and a linebreak count of 16-5 in favour of the hosts. However, McCall’s side demonstrated fantastic pluck...
England flew out of South Africa last Saturday evening to Heathrow as the rightful champions, the consistency of their potent scrum and manipulative defence helping them to a deserved first title since 2016.
Thirteen months ago, he was suddenly made redundant. London Irish collapsed, leaving the senior academy member at an awkward loose end that was eventually tied up via a trial at Leicester and a subsequent contract offer from them to complement his university studies at Loughborough.
If the double doesn’t materialise, though, he doesn’t want people judging the RFU’s pathway programme based on a single result in South Africa versus an opposition gunning to collect its fourth U20 Championship title in a row.
Mark Mapletoft’s side demonstrated their ability to squeeze teams in that last four success, holding the Irish scoreless in the second half to win 31-20 after leading 22-20 at the interval.
Two points up at the break, Mark Mapletoft’s side took a firm grip on the previously frenetic exchanges and the second period became a slow death for the Irish.