Owen Farrell returned from injury in Saracens’ 27-23 win over Bristol Bears and director of rugby Mark McCall was pleased with the England star’s outing.

It was Farrell’s first appearance in four months, but the fly-half played well and provided 12 runs from the tee for the home side before leaving the game late for a head injury assessment.

After the narrow win, McCall confessed he wasn’t the happiest with Saracens’ overall performance in their home game at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium and suggested his club captain would only get better with it. the weather.

McCall said: “He [Farrell] was at the heart of it all, he placed very well, he led the attack brilliantly and I think he defended well during the game.

Room to grow

“I’m delighted with him and he’ll be better from here. His best games will be ahead of him, but he was pretty good today.

“Obviously we’re delighted to have four points and a win from today, but not thrilled with the performance.

“I thought it was an exciting game, but not the kind of exciting game we want it to be or be a part of, to be honest.

“We were poor defensively today and a lot of credit to Bristol for the problems they caused us, but I think we showed a lot of resilience in the game to keep coming back and scoring two important tries from each halftime side.

“With the ball we were pretty good but without the ball we weren’t that good.”

The game was tied at 20-20 at half-time after Bristol tries of Antoine Frisch, Piers O’Conor and Tiff Eden were met by scores from Max Malins and Elliot Daly by the hosts with Farrell scoring two penalties.

After the break, Malins grabbed his second to put his side ahead and ensure Callum Sheedy’s penalty provided nothing more than a mere scratch on their lead, which remained until the whistle. final after Jack Bates’ try was canceled for a forward pass.

Bristol Bears director of rugby Pat Lam said: “It was a great game, a really nice game.

“I felt like he [Bates’ try] was forward, and it was, and I feel for Joycey (Joe Joyce) – he was distraught.

“He did an incredible job of getting to that position anyway – for a second rower after 80 minutes, which he did to get there and create the opportunity.

“Joe was obviously upset about it, but it would have been classy; two boys from Bristol, him and Jack Bates, who I thought were exceptional.

“He justified his selection, with all the good options we have, and he did very well.

“It would have been five points and a great way to end the game, but I’m proud of the guys.

“We had a clear game plan of how we wanted to play this. We put a lot of work into it. »

READ MORE: Premiership: Saracens edge past Bristol Bears at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on a splendid afternoon of English rugby