Jamie George and Maro Itoje yet to sign hybrid deals as England given hurry-up by Saracens

Saracens boss Mark McCall wants the Rugby Football Union (RFU) to speed up the process as England stars Maro Itoje and Jamie George have yet to sign hybrid deals.

McCall revealed that the pair have still to be offered finalised hybrid contracts, which is impacting on his team’s ability to plan recruitment ahead of next season.

England captain George and lock Itoje have agreed new contracts with the Premiership outfit on the understanding their salaries would be topped up by the RFU.

Nothing signed

However, the RFU’s plan to hand out 25 hybrid contracts worth £150,000 per season each as part of the new Professional Game Agreement appears to have stalled.

Saracens director of rugby McCall says that the England duo – the only players offered deals to date – are still waiting to put pen to paper in a concerning development.

“It’s fair to say that an agreement has been reached between them, the club and the RFU in principle,” McCall said.

“But as far as I know no contract has actually been signed by either of those two players.

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“The sooner all that can get done, the better for everybody. It’s pretty important that it gets sorted as quickly as possible.”

The uncertainty will no doubt worry both George and Itoje as Saracens look to defend their domestic title this season, with the club currently sitting third on the table.

McCall’s men have been handed a boost ahead of the run-in after it was confirmed that England centre Alex Lozowski is due back imminently from a long-term injury.

Six months out

“Alex is training fully now. He’s not available against Bath on Friday I don’t think, but will be available for our last two games,” McCall said.

“It’s going to be a six-month recovery period, there or thereabouts, which is probably a little bit ahead of where he might have been. To get that option back towards the end of the season is great.”

However, there was disappointing news on centre Olly Hartley who faces a lengthy spell out after suffering significant knee damage against Gloucester last Saturday.

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