Opposition view: Farrell 'was on one leg' during Saracens' defeat against Saints
Mark McCall has revealed that Owen Farrell played through the pain for Saracens against Saints on Friday night.
Farrell, who is heading to Racing 92 this summer, was battling a quad injury and did not kick at cinch Stadium at Franklin's Gardens.
Elliot Daly was on kicking duty and the full-back had put Saracens 6-0 up with two penalties early on.
But Saints fought back and eventually secured a nerve-shredding 22-20 Gallagher Premiership play-off semi-final success to ensure it would be the table-toppers rather than the champions who are heading to Twickenham for the showpiece next Saturday.
When asked about Farrell after the game, Saracens boss McCall said: "He had a quad injury. There is a small tear in there so he was never going to kick. He wasn’t going to be kicking for touch or goal.
"We weren’t sure if he was going to play, to be honest.
“It’s quite remarkable that he was on one leg, we had a fly-half who couldn’t kick and we were still able to stay in the battle.
"It’s incredible for him in his final game at Saracens to do that for the team.”
Farrell and the Vunipola brothers, Mako and Billy, were playing for Saracens for the final time as they will all exit the club this summer.
And McCall said: “We all feel very emotional about this being their last games. They’ve been incredible for the club on and off the field.
“They’ve had some wonderful moments over the years, and some tough moments. The tough moments have made the good ones better.
"It’s been a hell of a journey this last 10 to 15 years.
“I just feel lucky to have come here when they were here. To watch them as 18, 19, 20-year-olds – if you saw Mako on his first day at Saracens, you wouldn’t have thought he would go on three British and Irish Lions tours and win 60-odd caps for England. Same with Billy, really.
“Everyone thought Owen was destined for great things, but it still took him time as well.
“We played a semi-final here in 2015, and he reminded me that we lost a Champions Cup semi-final to Clermont the week before, and Charlie Hodgson had started ahead of him.
“Those three have been incredible for us, but to watch them develop as people and over the period has been great.”