Monday 26 January 2015 09:58, UK
Owen Farrell is a major doubt for England’s opening Six Nations game with Wales after sustaining a knee injury in Saracens' Champions Cup loss to Clermont on Sunday.
Farrell hobbled off after 18 minutes of the 18-6 defeat at the Stade Marcel-Michelin, having hurt his knee when tackled by Clermont flanker Julien Bardy, who appeared to land on the fly-half's leg.
The 23-year-old was able to walk off the field unaided but left the stadium on crutches and with his left knee in a brace, and will have the injury scanned in the coming days.
Farrell is due to join the England squad on Monday but Saracens director of rugby Mark McCall says the injury will have to be assessed before a decision is made on whether the player will be available for England's Six Nations opener a week next Friday.
"I wouldn't want to say right now," said McCall. "It's a new injury and we don't know the extent of it just yet.
"It's complicated with knee injuries. Sometimes you can do that (walk off after an injury) and it's more serious, but we'll get him looked after and we'll know in the next few days."
Farrell has been a regular at No 10 for England of late, although he was displaced by George Ford of Bath during the autumn internationals.
However, the loss of the reliable Farrell would still be considered a significant blow for England coach Stuart Lancaster.
If the Sarries man is ruled out of the Millennium Stadium encounter on 6 February, Ford would be favourite to start, with Danny Cipriani of Sale and Northampton's Stephen Myler set to vie for a place on the bench.
The final weekend of the Champions Cup group stages has made for concerning viewing for England fans, Bath centre Kyle Eastmond having injured his shoulder in Sunday's 20-15 win over Glasgow, while Leicester lock Geoff Parling and Northampton back row man Tom Wood were injured during Saturday's matches.
Despite Sunday's defeat, Saracens have qualified for the Champions Cup quarter-finals as one of the three best Pool runners-up and they will be away at Racing Metro in the quarter-finals.
