Banned Saracens fly-half Owen Farrell simulates No 10 rival Jonny Sexton in training

Banned Saracens No 10 Owen Farrell simulated Johnny Sexton in training to help his team prepare for their crunch Euro clash with Leinster.

Despite serving a five-week suspension, the England captain will still be flying to Dublin on the basis of the chartered team for Saturday’s quarter-final.

However, he helped lead the preparations and is likely to take on a sideline role at Aviva Stadium.

His side will face Sexton’s Leinster on Saturday in a delightful European Cup quarter final

“Owen is in opposition to us, playing some of Leinster’s plays, so he will be of great help to us this week,” said Saracens director of rugby Marc McCall. ‘He just wants to help. He regrets the situation he’s in, but now he just wants to help the team as much as possible. ‘

After losing a number of players in the lockdown, Saracens have declared themselves big underdogs for the draw.

Leinster has been undefeated since last year’s final, which she lost to Saracens, but McCall backed rookie No. 10 Manu Vunipola to fill in for Farrell if necessary.

“We have two choices: move Alex Goode to fly-half and play Elliot Daly as fullback, or put Manu in,” McCall said. ‘Manu showed throughout the year that when we gave him a new challenge. he handled it. We have a lot of faith in him. We will make that decision later in the week. ‘

The England captain will not act after receiving a five-game ban for a high tackle

Meanwhile, Northampton faces a propeller shortage leading up to their quarter-final against Exeter on Sunday.

The Saints have lost four looseheads – Alex Waller, Nick Auterac, Danny Hobbs-Awoyemi and Francois van Wyk – to injury, leaving 19-year-old Emmanuel Iyogun their only option.

Teams are required to call cover in the bank, but EPCR’s deadline to register new players has closed.

“It will be a farce if it is not allowed,” said a Sportsmail source.

The Irish squad hasn’t lost since Sarries lost in the final last year, winning the Pro14