Saracens boss Mark McCall said the Premiership champions would do everything in their power to keep Owen Farrell after the England star was linked with a move to Racing 92.
Reports in the French media on Friday suggested that the 32-year-old flyhalf, who has spent his entire senior career with Saracens, would leave for Top 14 giants Racing at the end of the season.
Paris-based Racing have denied that the club has reached an agreement with Farrell who, after England’s third-place World Cup finish last year where he was repeatedly booed by supporters, has taken a mental health break from international rugby and will sit out the Six Nations.
Should England’s all-time leading points-scorer head to the French capital, it would make Farrell ineligible for national selection and deal another blow to the Premiership, which has already lost several players to the Top 14.
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McCall, speaking after English champions Saracens’ 19-10 loss away to Leicester in the Premiership on Saturday, was adamant he wanted Farrell to remain with the north London club, but offered little further clarity on his future.
“I think having Owen Farrell in your team is what everybody would want,” the director of rugby said.
“It’s just not fair on anyone to talk about something that is speculation. Until there’s something to talk about, we’re not going to talk about it.”
The former Ireland international, speaking before the game, said he would not begrudge a senior player leaving Saracens.
“I can understand that when players have had long careers at one club, they would want to experience something different,” McCall told TNT Sports.
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Mistakes by Farrell contributed to two of Leicester’s three tries, the playmaker throwing an intercepted pass while his kick straight into touch led to another Tigers’ score.
Saracens’ fifth Premiership defeat of the season meant they had now equalled their total number of losses for the whole 2022-23 campaign, with this result their third reverse in four league games. But they are just a point outside the top four who will contest the title-deciding play-offs following the end of the regular season.
“Owen went well, like he always does,” said McCall. “He led from the front and he had a good game. He’s very good at putting distraction to one side and we saw that again here.”
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