George injury as Saracens fall to Castres defeat

England hooker Jamie George hurt his hamstring as three-time winners Saracens fell to a shock 32-24 home defeat by Castres in the Investec Champions Cup.

George, who was replaced by Maro Itoje as England captain on Tuesday, came on for Theo Dan in the second half but left the StoneX pitch in the closing minutes as Saracens missed out on a home tie in the last 16.

The 34-year-old’s failure to finish the match raises concerns about his fitness for England’s Six Nations opener in Ireland on 1 February.

“Jamie has hurt his hamstring,” said director of rugby Mark McCall. “We’re not quite sure how serious that hamstring is at the moment.”

Facing a Castres side who had not won away in Europe for 12 years and changed their entire starting XV after last week’s win over the Bulls, Saracens were favourites to secure second place in Pool 3 and with it home advantage in the knockout stage.

They led through two tries apiece from England forwards Dan and Ben Earl but could not hold on as Castres took the lead thanks to captain Adrien Seguret’s second try.

Saracens lacked the attacking power of their opponents’ backs and were unable to score the converted try that would have put them back in front.

The Top 14 side, who appointed Xavier Sadourny as head coach earlier in January, sealed a deserved win with a late penalty from Louis le Brun, sparking wild celebrations from their team.

Saracens had already qualified for the last 16 but will face a tricky away trip to Pool 4 winners Toulon in April after finishing fourth in their group.

Northampton Saints won the pool with Castres moving ahead of Munster to finish in second place, the first time the French side have reached the knockout stage since 2002.

‘A really poor performance