Jamie George limped off with a hamstring problem in Saracens’ 32-24 Champions Cup defeat at Castres, leaving him a Six Nations doubt to compound a miserable week for the England hook.
Replaced as England captain by club team-mate Maro Itoje when Steve Borthwick announced his Six Nations squad on Tuesday, he then picked up an injury at the StoneX Stadium that has put him in doubt for the February 1 game against Ireland.
George came on for two tries in the front row with Theo Dane in the 55th minute, but had to go out with Saracens in the closing stages when he couldn’t mark the extent of the damage.
“Jamie has injured his hamstring. We’re not quite sure how serious that hamstring is at the moment,” said director of rugby Mark McCall.
In the Champions Cup, George was injured against Castres, despite only coming on as a substitute
George’s late withdrawal and Toby Knight’s serious knee injury added to a disappointing afternoon in north London, where Caster finally won the Champions Cup after 21 straight away defeats.
The defeat was damaging for Saracens as they crashed out of the round of 16 at home and must now travel to face Toulon.
“It was a really poor performance by us. Custer totally deserved the win and we got what we deserved too, which is hard to say,” McCall said.
“Our mindset wasn’t quite right for some reason, and that’s on me and the coaches. It was a really disappointing day. They definitely got us excited.
George was replaced as England captain by club team-mate Maro Itoye earlier this week
“We had enough of the ball but we were sloppy with it and they defended against us comfortably. Then they struck when they had the chance. It was such a frustrating day.
“All 15 players they’ve brought in have played in the last five weeks, but not together.
“It wasn’t a bunch of kids, they were proper rugby players and we tried to convey that to the team. We just weren’t there mentally.”
Scotland captain Tuipulotu is also a doubt for the Six Nations with a chest injury
Scotland boss Gregor Townsend has also been left to sweat ahead of the Six Nations after key duo Sione Tuipulotu and Scott Cummings were sidelined with injuries ahead of the championship.
There is particular concern over the fitness of captain Tuipulotou, who has a pectoral injury, with Glasgow boss Franco Smith hinting, but refusing to confirm, that he fears a long spell on the sidelines at centre-back.
The 27-year-old played no part in Saturday’s Champions Cup defeat to Harlequins.
Asked for an update on Tuipulotu immediately after the game, Smith said: “He had an estimate. I don’t know the extent of it yet.
“I think he might have hurt his chest. It was just something that happened. We just wanted to make sure it wasn’t something serious. But we’ll have more clarity tomorrow : “
The captain of the Scottish national team, Sione Tuypulotu, suffered a chest injury during training with Glasgow.
Asked how big of a blow it would be if Tuipulotu, who was widely expected to be part of the British and Irish Lions squad this summer, missed the league or the whole of it, Smith played down concerns that the influential defender faces a period on the sidelines :
“It’s not just the player, but as a person and a player in our environment, he brings a lot of confidence to the people around him,” he said.
“So I think it would be a loss for everybody if it’s that serious, but I still think there’s enough of a season left for him to contribute, so hopefully it’s not such a serious injury that it can be particularly long.
“He will travel to the Scotland camp and be managed by their medical team as well, so all the communication as a team will be done once we have clarity on what the outcome is.
“I’ll just say that I don’t know at the moment, let’s see what the result will say.”
