Saracens will consider loaning out England stars to Super Rugby franchises for Lions preparation

Daniel Schofield
·2 min read
Saracens' Billy Vunipola, Maro Itoje and Owen Farrell look dejected - ACTION IMAGES
Saracens' Billy Vunipola, Maro Itoje and Owen Farrell look dejected - ACTION IMAGES

Mark McCall, Saracens director of rugby, will consider loaning out his frontline England players to Super Rugby franchises to get them firing for the Lions tour.

With Saracens’ relegation to the Championship confirmed, McCall believes the likes of Maro Itoje and Owen Farrell have the opportunity to take a sabbatical-style year that he describes as “the perfect season for them”.

While many of their England team-mates face a remorseless schedule with no spare weekends leading into the Lions series, the main problem facing Saracens’ Lions contenders will be a lack of high-intensity games in the period after the Six Nations.

“We need to work out with all the individuals what they need and if they have had quite a lot of international rugby, plus this burst of games we are having now, it might be they don’t need a lot,” McCall said. “They might need a couple of Championship games to keep them ticking over. If they need more competitive rugby there are avenues to make decisions with that player.

“I don’t think [Super Rugby loans] is out of the question but this is their golden opportunity to have a quieter club year, something akin to a sabbatical. I don’t think if that was to happen it would be for very long. It would be to get enough rugby to make sure they are firing come the Lions tour.”

Saracens’ current squad contains seven of the original Lions squad for the tour to New Zealand in 2017. McCall confirmed that he has been in contact with Lions head coach Warren Gatland, whom he said was “very happy with the situation” of Saracens facing second-tier rugby.

“We initially talked to see if he would be satisfied with being in the Championship in the very first conversation before Covid,” McCall said. “He was going to be pick the team from the international season rather than the club season in the first instance. Now we are playing some Premiership games I think it has worked out even better for Warren.”

Most of Saracens’ focus is trained on the Champions Cup quarter-final away to Leinster on September 19, yet McCall remains in the dark regarding what their schedule will be for the 2020/21 Championship season. “It’s been very sketchy, I’ve got to say,” McCall said. “I’ve heard that it may be a December start or a Christmas start, which makes this season a little bit different.”