Saracens update: Nick Isiekwe a doubt for 2023 Six Nations start

Saracens boss Mark McCall has provided an update on the length of time that England lock Nick Isiekwe will be missing from the game. The 24-year-old featured off the bench against Australia on July 16 in the tour series decider in Sydney but bad news emerged 47 days later when his Gallagher Premiership club revealed he needed an unspecified surgery and would be absent for several months.

“Saracens can today confirm that Nick Isiekwe will undergo surgery this week," read the club statement. "During a routine appointment and after discussion with a consultant, it has been recommended to carry out a procedure. The surgery will keep him out of action for several months. We will update further regarding his return to action during the rehabilitation process.”

Asked about Isiekwe at his midweek Saracens media briefing ahead of this Saturday’s Premiership visit to London rivals Harlequins, McCall steered clear of stating the precise nature of what was wrong with the second row but confirmed that his layoff was anytime between three and five months.

That worst-case scenario would rule the Saracens forward out of the start of the 2023 Guinness Six Nations with England, quite a blow when it is considered that Isiekwe got his first look-in in 2022 after being outside the Test squad since a short-lived first start in 2018 away to South Africa.

“He’s alright and he will be out for a period of time and it is not for me to say why that is the case but he will be out and we will miss him. He is a great player. We are looking around but we haven’t found anything yet.

“We don’t have an exact (comeback) date but we have got an estimation which is between three and five months I think,” added McCall about the lock, who debuted on the 2017 England tour to Argentina and was a replacement the following November versus Samoa at Twickenham. He then toured South Africa in June 2018 but was hooked just 36 minutes into his first start and was left waiting until February 2022 to get capped again.

There were four Six Nations appearances, three as a starter, and then another run as a sub on tour in Australia, bringing his caps tally up to eight. “He came off the bench in the third Test and did really well in that game but Nick is a young man, he is just 24 and he will be back,” reckoned his Saracens boss.