McRae gambles on early return

Duncan McRae, who had been sidelined for six weeks by Martin Johnson, put his body on the line for Saracens yesterday and led them to a gutsy Heineken Cup victory with an inspirational display. McRae had not been expected back until next month after the England captain left him with broken ribs in a Tetley's Bitter Cup tie at the beginning of December.

His reappearance was kept a closely guarded secret by the Saracens management but Francois Pienaar said: 'His comeback was a triumph. We've suffered without a No.10.' McRae, who kicked 17 points and also had a hand in three of Saracens' four tries, said: 'We kept it under wraps because we thought I might be targeted. I was lucky, I didn't take a hit in the ribs. I probably shouldn't have played but it was my decision and I felt it was do-or-die for us today. Anyway, my body belongs to Saracens.

'I went home to Australia after I was injured and I've come back totally refreshed. 'Before Christmas I played 20 games straight and I was pretty down. But coming back now, I was jumping out of my skin to play.' Now Saracens need to beat Ulster in Belfast on Friday and hope that Llanelli overcome Colomiers on the same evening to leave them with a slender chance of reaching the quarter-finals. But for Toulouse it's all over. It is the first time since they won the first Heineken Cup in 1996 that they have failed to reach the last eight. McRae's cheeky third-minute chip started a move which saw full back Brett Sparg score in the corner. The teams went in level at the break but McRae emerged to dominate the remainder of the match.

At the start of the second half he made a neat break, forced a superb reverse pass to Kevin Sorrell and the centre was in.

Two minutes later, McRae made a dash for the line but at the end of 50 metres his lack of fitness told and he was caught a metre short. However, the recycled ball went to Scott Murray, who plunged over.

Before Kieran Roche scored their fourth, McRae had added a third penalty and ended up converting all the tries.

Saracens old boy Alain Penaud - the man McRae replaced - scored the second of Toulouse's four tries.