George injury as Saracens fall to Castres defeat

England hooker Jamie George hurt his hamstring during Saracens' defeat

Investec Champions Cup Pool 3

Saracens 24 (19)

Tries: Dan 2, Earl 2 Cons: Lozowski 2

Castres 32 (14)

Tries: Tukino, Seguret 2, Chabouni Cons: Le Brun 3 Pens: Le Brun 2

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' - McCall

McCall had warned before the match that this was "probably the biggest game" in Castres' European history, and he was proved right as the much-changed visitors rose to the occasion.

"It was a really poor performance by us," said McCall. "Castres thoroughly deserved to win the game and we got what we deserved as well, which is a hard thing to say.

"Our mentality for some reason wasn't quite right and that's on me and the coaches. It was a really disappointing day. Castres definitely out-enthused us. They were really up for the game.

"We had plenty of the ball but we were poor with it and they defended against us comfortably. Then they struck when the opportunities arose for them. It was such a disappointing day."

Below-par Saracens punished by inspired Castres

Adrien Seguret scores Castres' fourth try

The first of several powerful runs from Andrea Cocagi, who crashed through some suspect Saracens defence, gave number eight Feibyan Tukino the chance to score the opening try in the third minute.

Dan, who caught the eye with his bullish runs, took a quick-tap penalty and powered his way over to bring the hosts level.

Castres regained the lead from a well-executed penalty play which ended with centre Seguret smashing his way over for his first.

Saracens' pack had the upper hand in the scrum and line-out and used their power to help Earl over for the first of his tries.

The home side's forwards repeated the trick as Earl grabbed his second on the stroke of half-time, handing Sarries the lead for the first time.

Le Brun's penalty cut Saracens' lead to two points but Dan got his second try from another maul.

The visitors finally steadied their set-piece and that gave them the platform to unleash their dashing backs.

Cocagi's brilliant back-of-the-hand pass released fellow Fijian Josaia Raisuge and he sent Elliot Daly flying backwards with a barnstorming run before passing for Theo Chabouni to finish a superb move.

Another sweeping move fired the visitors into a 29-24 lead as Santiago Arata's thrilling run through Saracens' stretched defence enabled Seguret to score the crucial try.

Saracens still had time to regain the lead but never looked like getting the score they needed, and the visitors were able to celebrate a stunning away win.

Line-ups

Saracens: Daly; Elliott, Lozowski, Tompkins, Segun; Burke, Van Zyl; Mawi, Dan, Balmain, Itoje (capt), Tizard; Gonzalez, Earl, Willis.

Replacements: George, Brantingham, Riccioni, Michelow, Knight, Simpson, Hartley, Hall.

Castres: Chabouni; Hulleu, Seguret (capt), Cocagi, Raisuqe; Le Brun, Doubrere; Guerois-Galisson, Colonna, Corato, Maravat, Jedrasiak, Moore-Aiono, Meka, Tukino.

Replacements: Zarantonello, De Benedittis, Azar, Macurdy, Peysson, Perrone, Dupont, Zeghdar

Referee: Andrea Piardi (Ita)