England captain Owen Farrell closes in on return from injury with Saracens

Saracens are hopeful England captain Owen Farrell will return from his lengthy injury absence to feature in Saturday’s Gallagher Premiership match with Bristol.

Farrell has not played since suffering an ankle problem during his country’s 32-15 win over Australia in November.

The 30-year-old was poised to make his comeback in January but then injured his other ankle while training with his club, causing him to undergo surgery and miss the entire Guinness Six Nations.

Saracens director of rugby Mark McCall said: “Owen has been training over the last couple of weeks and fingers crossed he will be available for selection again on Saturday.

“He’s been in team training seasons for about two weeks. We’ll assess him tomorrow and Friday and make sure everything is OK.

“He’s the captain of the club and he’s obviously a great player, everybody knows that and for him personally it’s great as well.

“He loves playing rugby and he hasn’t played much. If he does play, he’s certainly looking forward to it. We’re chuffed to have him back.”

In Farrell’s absence, England again struggled in the Six Nations, finishing third following defeats to Scotland, Ireland and Grand Slam winners France.

Sections of England’s support last year questioned the value of Farrell’s contribution after Eddie Jones’ men endured an even more dismal campaign, coming fifth.

McCall refused to be drawn on that subject, while describing his skipper as a “force of nature” and “Test-match animal”.

“I can just talk about the leader and the player that I know really and it’s for others to draw conclusions as to how valuable that is to his country,” said McCall.

“The leader I know is sensational, I’ve never come across someone who can lead the way he does. He can lead by