Saracens director of rugby Mark McCall has returned to the club and will be in charge for Saturday’s top-two clash with Leicester Tigers after a month away on medical grounds.

Confirming that the medical reasons were personal and that he was now OK, McCall thanked everyone for their messages wishing him well following the announcement by Saracens at the end of January.

“I’ve been blown away by the rugby community and the support and messages I’ve received from all over the place really to be honest, that was really assuring,” McCall said. “I’m back now and looking forward to getting stuck in again.”

McCall returned to Saracens’ training ground last week during the team’s bye, with the club winning two of their four matches while McCall was away, defeating Bath and Harlequins while losing to Wasps and London Irish

“I probably missed them more than they missed me,” McCall said, before praising the work carried out by Saracens’ coaches including head coach Joe Shaw during his time away.

“We have a great staff here who have been together for a very long period of time. We know each other inside out, what works well at the club, so it’s not really a surprise that it probably worked even better without me! It’s a positive month for us, obviously the result against London Irish wasn’t quite what we wanted, but overall it was positive.

“I kind of left them to it. I talked to everyone from time to time, but the last thing you want is someone interfering who’s not in here day to day. Phil Morrow (performance director) and Joe Shaw in particular did a great job, but I’m still thankful to be back again.

“I drifted back in last week when players had a week off. It felt like a good time to get back in and up to date and get my feet under the table. It is business as normal. 

“I missed the people here and the atmosphere here, the coaches’ room and everything. It has been a big part of my life for the past 12 years and you are going to miss it when you are not here.”

Farrell ‘weeks rather than months’ away from return

McCall also provided an update on England captain Owen Farrell, revealing that Farrell is expected back towards the end of the month following the latest ankle injury which rules him out of the Six Nations.

“His recovery is going positively, and we’re certainly hoping he’ll be back playing towards the end of March – exactly when that will be I’m not sure. It’s weeks rather than months [now],” McCall said.

“He’s not doing any training with the team, he’s still with our performance team, but he’s actively involved in meetings, preparation and that kind of thing. 

“This weekend is our 17th league game of the season, and Owen has played four. To have a world-class player to come back in for the last five or six games of the season will be huge for us.”