Owen Farrell could be back playing in "weeks rather than months" as he approaches a return following the ankle injury that ruled him out of the entire Six Nations.
The England captain was poised to return to play in January after damaging one ankle during the November win over Australia, only to suffer a setback when he hurt his other ankle in training.
Although he still won't be back in time to impact the Six Nations, Saracens director of rugby Mark McCall gave some insight as to Farrell's prospects for the rest of the Premiership campaign.
McCall—who just returned to Sarries duty following his own month's absence on medical grounds —gave an encouraging update on the fly-half's fitness ahead of his latest comeback attempt.
"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," McCall told reporters. "It’s weeks rather than months.
"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.
"He is getting closer to being able to play again so there are only hopefully three, four, five weeks before he plays again.
“He is excited about getting his boots back on, getting out there and helping the team again. He always has got a huge influence anyway, just how smart he is about the game and how good he is at helping a lot of the individuals in the team."
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Farrell, 30, was delayed in his start to the season after touring South Africa with the British and Irish Lions, and his return was short-lived after being summoned to lead Eddie Jones ' squad at the end of October.
Saracens sit second in the Premiership but will have the chance to claw back some of Leicester Tigers ' 16-point lead when they host the pace-setters on Saturday.
McCall's men also boast a valuable game in hand over their immediate Premiership peers, which will play a big factor as they seek to top the table in their first season back among England's elite.
The likes of Alex Goode, Manu Vunipola and Alex Lozowski have helped plug the gap at 10 during Farrell's absence, but the five-time Premiership champion will provide a big boost upon his return.
"This weekend is our 17th league game of the season, and Owen has played four," McCall added. "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."
As for his own spell away from the squad, McCall said his reasons were personal but that all was okay ahead of his return to the coaches' box at StoneX Stadium.
"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," the 54-year-old said in regards to the response following news of his hiatus.
"I'm back now and looking forward to getting stuck in again."
As well as fighting to secure the best possible Premiership finish, Saracens can still advance to the Challenge Cup knockout phase depending on their final pool-stage result away to Brive on April 8.
Farrell faced table-toppers Leicester in his first appearance of the 2021/22 season but was unable to prevent his side slipping to a 13-12 last-gasp defeat at Welford Road.
Saracens will hope for a more positive result in his absence this weekend as they look to tighten the gap at the Premiership peak, having lost 32-30 at London Irish in their last outing (Feb. 19).
