George and Watson give Borthwick a fitness boost

JAMIE GEORGE is on course to line up for England in Saturday’s Calcutta Cup, according to his boss at Saracens, while Anthony Watson also gave new coach Steve Borthwick a Six Nations boost by playing a full 80 minutes for Leicester.

George sustained a head injury against Edinburgh last Sunday, and Saracens director of rugby Mark McCall, whose side secured a stunning 20-19 fightback win over Bristol Bears, said: ‘Everything is on track. Non-contact training on Tuesday, contact training on Thursday for two days and then play on Saturday.’

Francois Hougaard grabbed the winning try in time added on, having waited nearly two months for his Sarries debut since leaving Wasps. Bristol led 8-0 at half time but Saracens replied with tries by Theo Dan and Rotimi Segun before

South African Hougaard sealed the win by darting over in the left corner.

Watson, back from a leg injury, has not played for England since 2021 but was recently mentioned by Borthwick. However, the fullback/winger could not stop Northampton coming away with a 19-18 win at Welford Road.

Two Harry Potter tries either side of half time were not enough for Tigers, as Saints wing Ollie Sleightholme raced in to seal a rare victory on the road.

Northampton boss Phil Dowson said: ‘We have not been good away from home. We are not going to blow sides away, so we need to be fully on in terms of what we do defensively.’

Exeter Chiefs coach Ali Hepher was delighted after his side moved into third place in the table with a 24-17 victory against Gloucester.

Chiefs scored three first-half tries through Jonny Gray, Solomone Kata and Olly Woodburn to lay the foundation for the triumph.

Hepher said: ‘We have now got five wins in a block of eight matches, so we are really pleased with that.’