George injury as Saracens fall to Castres defeat

Pool 3 of the Investec Champions Cup

Saracens 24 (19)

Tries: Dan 2, Earl 2 Cons: Lozowski 2

Castres 32 (14)

Jamie George, an England hooker, was injured as Saracens, a three-time champion, were humiliated at home by Castres 32-24.

In the final minutes of the match, Saracens missed out on a home draw in the last 16, but George came on for Theo Dan in the second half but was replaced by Maro Itoje as England’s captain on Tuesday.

The 34-year-old’s injury raises concerns about his fitness for England’s Six Nations opener in Ireland on 1 February.

“Jamie has hurt his hamstring”, said director of rugby Mark McCall. We’re not entirely certain how serious that hamstring is right now.

With home advantage in the knockout stage and a Castres side that had not won away in Europe for 12 years, Saracens were the favorites to take home the win in Pool 3 and take on the Castres side in the knockout stage.

Dan and Ben Earl, England’s Dan and Ben Earl, both scored two tries, but they were unable to hold on as Castres, captain Adrien Seguret’s second try, gave them the lead.

The Saracens lacked the attacking ability of their opponents, so they were unable to convert the try that would have restored their lead.

The Top 14 side, who had previously appointed Xavier Sadourny as head coach, won deservedly with Louis le Brun’s late penalty, which sparked outcry from the entire squad.

After finishing fourth in their group, Saracens already qualified for the last 16; however, after finishing fourth, they will travel to Pool 4 winners Toulon in April.

Before the match, McCall had already warned Castres that this was “probably the biggest game” in Castres’ history, and McCall proved his prediction as the disappointed fans rose to the occasion.

“It was a really poor performance by us”, said McCall. It’s difficult to say that “Castres thoroughly deserved to win the game and that we also deserved what we deserved.”

” Our mentality for some reason wasn’t quite right and that’s on me and the coaches. A truly disappointing day was had. Cassans undoubtedly outweighed our enthusiasm. They were genuinely interested in the game.

Number eight Feibyan Tukino had the chance to score the opening try in the third minute thanks to the first of several powerful runs from Andrea Cocagi, who crashed through some suspect Saracens defense.

Dan, who had a quick-tap penalty and bullish runs, powered over to level the hosts.

A well-executed penalty play gave Castres a second chance before Seguret hit his way over for his first.

Earl scored his first try with the help of Saracens’ pack, who had the upper hand in the scrum and line-out.

Earl grabbed his second on the stroke of half-time, giving Sarries the lead for the first time, as the home side’s forwards did the same.

Saracens increased their lead to two points thanks to Le Brun’s penalty, but Dan scored his second try from a different maul.

The visitors were given the opportunity to unleash their fierce backs when they finally stabilized their set-piece.

Josaia Raisuge, a fellow Fijian, was released by Cocagi’s brilliant back-of-the-hand pass, which sent Elliot Daly flying backwards with a frantic run before passing for Theo Chabouni to finish a superb move.

With Santiago Arata’s thrilling run through Saracens’ slender defense allowing Seguret to score the crucial try, another powerful move gave the visitors a 29-24 lead.

Replacements: George, Brantingham, Riccioni, Michelow, Knight, Simpson, Hartley, Hall.

Castres: Chabouni, Hulleu, Seguret (capt), Cocagi, Raisuqe, Le Brun, Doubrere, Guerois-Galisson, Colonna, Corato, Maravat, Jedrasiak, Moore-Aiono, Meka, Tukino.

Replacements: Zarantonello, De Benedittis, Azar, Macurdy, Peysson, Perrone, Dupont, Zeghdar