England, Saracens sweat over Farrell injury
SATURDAY WRAP: Owen Farrell had the better of his duel with Test flyhalf rival Marcus Smith as Saracens defeated Harlequins 36-24 in the Premiership on Saturday - only for the England captain to limp off injured at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
The match between the London clubs had been billed as a Farrell v Smith showdown,
Both flyhalves had their moments, but it was Farrell, with the benefit of playing behind the stronger pack, who came out on top.
But Farrell's match ended 10 minutes before full-time when he rolled his left ankle while making a tackle near Saracens' posts.
His injury came during a win that guaranteed Saracens a home semi-final in the title-deciding play-offs.
Farrell, 31, damaged the same joint late in the Six Nations but was passed fit to play against eventual Grand Slam champions Ireland before facing Smith a week later.
Now there are concerns Farrell's latest injury - he damaged both ankles during the 2021/22 season - could have long-term implications for both Saracens and England in a year culminating with the World Cup in France.
More immediately, Saracens face Welsh side the Ospreys in the knockout phase of the Champions Cup a week on Sunday.
"It was a grade one strain before which is normally a seven-day turnaround, which he managed to do in the England week and play that game [Ireland]," said Saracens supremo Mark McCall.
"Whether or not it's still a grade one, we'll see. If it's more than that he won't play. We certainly won't play him if he's not right."
He speaks, you listen'
Harlequins and England No.8 Alex Dombrandt opened the scoring inside 90 seconds when he sold a dummy before going over for a fine try.
Saracens, however, responded when Alex Lozowski scored between the posts before helping create his side's second try for Wales' Nick Tompkins.
Harlequins scrum-half Danny Care was sin-binned for interfering at the ruck and Farrell's penalty meant Saracens led 17-7.
Quins hit back early in the second half with two tries from winger Cadan Murley but centre Luke Northmore was sin-binned for catching Farrell in the throat and in the next play Saracens's Maro Itoje was driven over for a try from a line-out.
Joe Marler's try kept Quins in the hunt but Saracens, last season's losing finalists, retained control to remain top of the table.
All the Saturday scores and scorers below the standings
Leicester Tigers 46-24 Bristol Bears
The scorers
For Leicester Tigers
Tries: B Youngs, Watson, Montoya 2, Pollard, Clare
Cons: Pollard 4, Gopperth
Pens: Pollard 2
For Bristol Bears
Tries: Thacker, Ibitoye, Randall
Cons: MacGinty 2, Ibitoye
Pen: MacGinty
The teams:
Leicester: 15 Mike Brown, 14 Anthony Watson, 13 Matt Scott, 12 Jimmy Gopperth, 11 Harry Potter, 10 Handré Pollard, 9 Ben Youngs, 8 Jasper Wiese, 7 Olly Cracknell, 6 Hanro Liebenberg, 5 Cameron Henderson, 4 George Martin, 3 Joe Heyes, 2 Julián Montoya (captain), 1 Tom West.
Replacements: 16 Charlie Clare, 17 James Cronin, 18 Dan Cole, 19 Eli Snyman, 20 Tommy Reffell, 21 Jack van Poortvliet, 22 Charlie Atkinson, 23 Freddie Steward.
Bristol: 15 Charles Piutau, 14 Ioan Lloyd, 13 Semi Radradra, 12 James Williams, 11 Gabriel Ibitoye, 10 AJ MacGinty, 9 Harry Randall (co-captain), 8 Magnus Bradbury, 7 Fitz Harding, 6 Steven Luatua (co-captain), 5 Chris Vui, 4 Joe Joyce, 3 Max Lahiff, 2 Harry Thacker, 1 Yann Thomas.
Replacements: 16 Fred Davies, 17 Ellis Genge, 18 George Kloska, 19 Jake Heenan, 20 Sam Lewis, 21 Andy Uren, 22 Sam Bedlow, 23 Noah Heward.
Referee: Matthew Carley
Assistant referees: Hamish Smales, Peter Allan
TMO: Stuart Terheege
Saracens 36-24 Harlequins
The scorers
For Saracens'
Tries: Lozowski, Tompkins, Christie, Maitland, Itoje
Cons: Farrell 4
Pen: Farrell
For Harlequins
Tries: Dombrandt, Murley 2, Marchant
Cons: Smith 2
The teams:
Saracens: 15 Alex Goode, 14 Max Malins, 13 Alex Lozowski, 12 Nick Tompkins, 11 Sean Maitland, 10 Owen Farrell (captain), 9 Ivan van Zyl, 8 Billy Vunipola, 7 Ben Earl, 6 Andy Christie, 5 Hugh Tizard, 4 Maro Itoje, 3 Marco Riccioni, 2 Jamie George, 1 Mako Vunipola
Replacements: 16 Theo Dan, 17 Eroni Mawi, 18 Alec Clarey, 19 Nick Isiekwe, 20 Jackson Wray, 21 Aled Davies, 22 Duncan Taylor, 23 Alex Lewington
Harlequins: 15 Nick David, 14 Joe Marchant, 13 Luke Northmore, 12 Andre Esterhuizen, 11 Cadan Murley, 10 Marcus Smith, 9 Danny Care, 8 Alex Dombrandt, 7 James Chisholm, 6 Jack Kenningham, 5 Stephan Lewies (captain), 4 Irne Herbst, 3 Wilco Louw, 2 Jack Walker, 1 Joe Marler
Replacements: 16 Sam Riley, 17 Fin Baxter, 18 Will Collier, 19 Dino Lamb, 20 Will Evans, 21 Scott Steele, 22 Tommy Allan, 23 Oscar Beard
Referee: Luke Pearce
Assistant referees: Dan Jones, Jamie Leahy
TMO: Andrew Jackson
London Irish 37-22 Northampton Saints
The scorers
For London Irish
Tries: Fa'aso'o, Pearson, Loader, Munga
Cons: Jackson 4
Pens: Jackson 3
For Northampton Saints
Tries: Augustus, Freeman, Ludlam
Cons: Smith, Hutchinson
Pen: Smith
The teams:
London Irish: 15 Ben Loader, 14 Lucio Cinti, 13 Benhard van Rensburg, 12 Rory Jennings, 11 Ollie Hassell-Collins, 10 Paddy Jackson, 9 Hugh O’Sullivan, 8 So’otala Fa’aso’o, 7 Tom Pearson, 6 Matt Rogerson (captain), 5 Rob Simmons, 4 Api Ratuniyarawa, 3 Oliver Hoskins, 2 Agustin Creevy, 1 Danilo Fischetti
Replacements: 16 Mike Willemse, 17 Tarek Haffar, 18 Lovejoy Chawatama, 19 Chunya Munga, 20 Juan Martin Gonzalez, 21 Chandler Cunningham-South, 22 Joe Powell, 23 Henry Arundell
Northampton: 15 George Furbank, 14 James Ramm, 13 Fraser Dingwall, 12 Rory Hutchinson, 11 Tommy Freeman, 10 Fin Smith, 9 Alex Mitchell, 8 Juarno Augustus, 7 Lewis Ludlam (captain), 6 Lukhan Salakaia-Loto, 5 Alex Moon, 4 David Ribbans, 3 Trevor Davison, 2 Robbie Smith, 1 Alex Waller
Replacements: 16 Tom Cruse, 17 Ethan Waller, 18 Paul Hill, 19 Angus Scott-Young, 20 Sam Graham, 21 Tom James, 22 Tom Litchfield, 23 Tom Collins
Referee: Anthony Woodthorpe
Assistant referees: Harry Walbaum, Wayne Falla
TMO: Dean Richards