Owen Farrell will make his second start of the season when Saracens face Munster in the European Champions Cup at Thomond Park on Friday night.
The fly-half’s return is timely with his next match, if he proves his fitness, for England against New Zealand at Twickenham on 8 November. Farrell – who played in only one Test against the All Blacks in the summer, after arriving too late to be considered for the first because of his involvement in the Premiership final, and then getting injured in the second – has made three of his four club appearances this season off the bench and seen 108 minutes of action.
He suffered a quad strain after making his only start in the 36-32 victory at London Irish on 20 September and returned against Clermont Auvergne last Saturday, when he replaced Charlie Hodgson with five minutes to go.
His fitness will be tested to the full in one of the key matches in the group with Munster having secured an away victory at Sale. The England head coach, Stuart Lancaster, will be watching the match closely with Farrell among five players in the Saracens teams who are also in the England squad. “I trust Owen,” said Lancaster. “He will be ready but he will have to do well this weekend because he has got some competition.”
Saracens will be led by Brad Barritt. “It is a game that goes down to the wire and we are going to have to be as clinical as ever,” said the centre, who is set to resume his England partnership with Farrell against the All Blacks. “We had a good start to our European campaign against Clermont Auvergne and this is a huge opportunity for us to create another memory.
“We have talked about going to historical grounds where teams have found it very difficult to win and we know it is going to be extremely tough. Munster are a team with a wealth of European experience and they are able to consistently work for 80 minutes to achieve the result that they need.”
Munster have an impressive record at home to Premiership clubs in Europe, winning all but one of their 17 fixtures. Leicester provided the only blemish with a 13-6 victory at Thomond Park in 2007 and Saracens have twice been the victims, in 2000 and 2012, the season when, at Vicarage Road, they recorded their only victory over the Irish province in five European meetings.
Saracens make three changes to the side that secured a bonus-point victory over Clermont. The Argentina centre Marcelo Bosch takes over from Chris Wyles for his first start of the campaign, Neil de Kock replaces Richard Wigglesworth at scrum-half and the Scotland lock Jim Hamilton comes in for the injured skipper Alistair Hargreaves.
Munster’s two changes are at prop. “Saracens have been very impressive,” said the Munster captain Peter O’Mahony. “They have been knocking on the door of Europe for the last few years, and we know they are hungry for success. It’s a big game for us. They are a fairly complete side. They can attack from all areas, with dangerous players all over the place.”
The Saracens director of rugby, Mark McCall, knows Munster well as an Ulsterman. “History shows that they are particularly good at lifting their performances for home matches in Europe,” he said. “We have to be ready for them and we have to match them.”
The Clermont Auvergne flanker Julien Bardy has been banned for five weeks after admitting kneeing the England No8 Billy Vunipola at the end of the defeat to Saracens. The match officials missed the offence and he was cited.
