Fly-half Owen Farrell is showing just how much improvement he has made to his game since going away with the British and Irish Lions last summer, according to Saracens director of rugby Mark McCall.
The 22-year-old, who made his Lions bow on their triumphant tour down under last year, put in a man of the match performance to help Saracens defeat Premiership opponents Harlequins 39-17 at Wembley Stadium on Saturday.
Having recently starred for England, the 22-year-old returned to his club to score 17 points with a try, three conversions and two penalties.
And McCall believes for his age that Farrell is certainly proving to be a mature head on the field thanks largely to his experiences on the international scene.
"We rotate our squad regularly throughout the season so Owen Farrell's game time is exactly where it should be so there was no necessity to rest him," said McCall.
"You can see how much Farrell has improved since last summer. The Lions tour has made a huge difference to him. He's such a mature 22-year-old.
"I would've taken a 39-17 victory over Harlequins at Wembley before the game though. We've come through unscathed injury-wise.”
