Saracens v Toulon
Borthwick fit to captain Saracens
ESPN Staff
May 23, 2014
Steve Borthwick is fit to captain Saracens against Toulon on Saturday © Getty Images
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Saracens welcome back captain Steve Borthwick for Saturday's Heineken Cup final after the lock recovered from a chest injury that had threatened to keep him out of the clash with Toulon.

Borthwick suffered the injury during last Saturday's Aviva Premiership play-off win over Harlequins and, with the former England captain due to retire at the end of the season, there were fears he had made his final appearance for the club.

Saracens have been monitoring Borthwick's fitness since Saturday, with director of rugby Mark McCall sounding a cautious note in midweek: "We wouldn't play him unless he's proven he can play, functionally he's got to be strong enough to play. We wouldn't gamble at all with him. He's got a significant injury to his pectoral muscle."

Borthwick's name on the teamsheet completes a strong line-up for Saracens as they look to become the first English team in seven years to win the Heineken Cup.

Jonny Wilkinson will lead Toulon in what will also be his final European match before retirement this summer. The fly-half heads a Toulon side looking to become only the third team to win the trophy in successive seasons.

Team news

Saracens

15 Alex Goode; 14 Chris Ashton, 13 Marcelo Bosch, Brad Barritt 12, 11 David Strettle; 10 Owen Farrell, 9 Richard Wigglesworth; 1 Mako Vunipola, 2 Schalk Brits, 3 Matt Stevens, 4 Steve Borthwick (c), 5 Alistair Hargreaves, 6 Kelly Brown, 7 Jacques Burger, 8 Billy Vunipola

16 Jamie George, 17 Richard Barrington, 18 James Johnston, 19 Mouritz Botha, 20 Jackson Wray, 21 Neil de Kock, 22 Charlie Hodgson, 23 Chris Wyles

Toulon

15 Delon Armitage; 14 Drew Mitchell, 13 Mathieu Bastareaud, 12 Matt Giteau, 11 Bryan Habana; 10 Jonny Wilkinson (c), 9 Sebastien Tillous-Borde; 1 Xavier Chiocci, 2 Craig Burden, 3 Carl Hayman, 4 Bakkies Botha, 5 Danie Rossouw, 6 Juan Smith, 7 Fernandez Lobbe, 8 Steffon Armitage

16 Jean-Charles Orioli, 17 Alexander Menini, 18 Martin Castrogiovanni, 19 Ali Williams, 20 Virgil Bruni, 21 Maxime Mermoz, 22 Michael Claassens, 23 Jocelino Suta

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