Onyeama-Christie needs surgery but season 'not over'

Andy Onyeama-Christie was injured in Saracens' 17-10 defeat by Harlequins

Scotland flanker Andy Onyeama-Christie will have surgery on a serious ankle injury but Saracens boss Mark McCall expects him back before the end of the season.

The 25-year-old was stretchered off in the seventh minute of Sarries' defeat by Harlequins on Sunday and taken to hospital with a suspected dislocated or broken ankle.

Saracens director of rugby McCall revealed Onyeama-Christie would have surgery on Monday.

"I don't think it'll be a season-ending injury, I think he'll be back before the end of the season, which is great news," McCall told BBC Radio London. "But we'll know more about that after the surgery."

Onyeama-Christie had made a strong start to the season, scoring two tries against Gloucester as Saracens claimed maximum points from their first three games.

This earned him a nomination for Gallagher's Premiership player of the month award for September.

TV broadcasters chose not to replay the incident that led to the injury while several of his team-mates looked visibly upset.

Onyeama-Christie shared footage of himself watching the game from hospital on his TikTok account after the match.

'He'll be determined to come back as quickly as possible'

Andy Onyeama-Christie scored two tries against Gloucester in September

McCall said the player had been "overwhelmed" by the support he had received from the rugby community.

"You saw the reaction of some of our players who were close to the incident, I can't remember people reacting like that too often," McCall said.

"I thought the crowd at Quins were brilliant in giving him an ovation off the field, I think everyone realised how serious it was.

"I think Andy has been overwhelmed by all the support he's got from a lot of places. He's been buoyed by that."

Onyeama-Christie joined Saracens in 2018 and has made 85 appearances for the club, winning two Premiership titles, the Championship and the European Champions Cup in that time.

He made his Scotland debut against France at Murrayfield in the Six Nations in 2022 and has eight caps for his country.

Onyeama-Christie missed the end of the domestic season last year with a broken arm that also ruled him out of Scotland's summer internationals.

He had missed the end of the previous season with a broken forearm.

"He's one of those characters who, once he gets his head around it and once the surgery's done, he'll be very determined to come back as quickly as possible, like he'd done with his broken arm, better than ever," McCall added.