Saracens expect Ben Earl to return from injury earlier

Saracens director of rugby Mark McCall is expecting England international Ben Earl to return from injury earlier than expected.

Earl has been on the sidelines since sustaining a knee injury in the warm-up game ahead of sixth round of the Gallagher Premiership game against Harlequins.

He was initially expected to return in January after undergoing a minor procedure but McCall said he might be available for the game against Newcastle Falcons on 30th December.

“He’s doing well, he was running consistently last week and this week, and he should be in training with us towards the end of this week or, at the worst, early next week after Christmas. He has a chance of playing in the Newcastle game,” said McCall.

“Our medical team has done a great job, our performance team has done a good job, and Ben’s worked very hard and has been very diligent about his rehab and is ahead of schedule.

“But we won’t take any risks with him so if he is not quite right for Newcastle, we will get him in the week.”

Saracens are at third place in the Gallagher Premiership table with five wins from eight matches.