Saracens director of rugby Mark McCall says Springbok lock Eben Etzebeth is unlikely to join the English club on a short-term deal.

The English and European club champions identified Etzebeth as a candidate to replace fellow South African Alastair Hargreaves, who has been forced to retire because of a concussion.

McCall confirmed there had been talks with Etzebeth, but said that negotiations had since broken down as the signing would only be a temporary solution.

'I don't think that will happen. We've been exploring a couple of options and Etzebeth was one of them, but that looks like it won't happen.

'Signing him would have solved a problem until the end of January, but after that we'd have had to find a different solution. It's very hard to find someone who is good enough, who is available to get into this country and who is also out of contract.'

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