Saracens chief Mark McCall not afraid to throw Manu Vunipola in at fly-half

Decision time: McCall has faith in Vunipola
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Simon Collings @sr_collings15 September 2020

Saracens director of rugby Mark McCall has no fear about Manu Vunipola replacing Owen Farrell at fly-half for Saturday’s Heineken Champions Cup quarter-final at Leinster.

England captain Farrell is suspended for the match after being issued with a five-match ban for a dangerous tackle against Wasps earlier this month.

It means Saracens will have to start either full-back Alex Goode or Vunipola, the cousin of England internationals Billy and Mako, at fly-half.

Goode is currently favourite to get the nod, but McCall has faith in the 20-year-old Vunipola too.

“Manu has certainly shown all year any time we’ve given him a new challenge, he has stood up to that challenge,” he said.

“He has played Racing 92 away, Munster away and he was involved in the Ospreys game. He has accumulated a lot of experience this year and we have a lot of faith in Manu. All season he has continued to gain these experiences.

“We have two choices. To move Goodey up and play him at fly-half and Elliott [Daly] to full-back or stick Manu in there and keep Goodey where he is. We will make that decision later on.”

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