Farrell keeps making his mark but it’s hard to keep him fresh

Saracens are struggling to protect Owen Farrell in the build-up to England’s autumn Test series.

Charlie Hodgson is likely to be out until the tail-end of this month with an Achilles injury meaning there are limited opportunities to give the in-form Farrell a break from front-line duty. The 22-year-old has played in all five matches this season and, thanks to his goal kicking excellence, is the Premiership’s top scorer with 78 points.

Alex Goode, the England full-back started in the No10 role against Wasps on Saturday but Farrell came off the replacements bench at half-time to score 11 points in a 19-12 win and Sarries cannot afford to be without his skills for the tricky Heineken Cup opener in Ireland against Connacht on Friday.

A week later, Sarries take on Toulouse at Wembley and then Farrell (above) will have to prepare for England’s November Tests against Australia, Argentina and New Zealand.

To lighten Farrell’s load, he was given a week off training in the build-up to the Wasps match but it is his game time that needs to be managed carefully. Sarries director of rugby Mark McCall said: “Owen wants to play every game but he’s very sensible.

“He’s just back from the Lions tour and had Charlie Hodgson been fit we wouldn’t have played him for the first couple of matches because England want us to look after Owen long-term and that’s very important. He didn’t train with us at all last week and had that time off and that will do him good in the long run.

“Charlie still hasn’t played a game and will still be out for a while. It’s been a bit slow to recover and we hope to get him back after the second Heineken Cup game which will be good timing because Owen will be going away with England then. It was almost unfair to ask Alex [Goode] to play No10 because he has been trying to re-establish himself at No15.”

Saracens have a six-point lead at the top of the table and their nearest capital rivals are Harlequins, who slipped to seventh after losing 18-13 at London Irish.