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London - Northampton coach Chris Boyd is optimistic Wales' Dan Biggar will be fit to face England in the Six Nations next weekend despite the flyhalf limping off during their 67-17 thrashing of Sale in the English Premiership on Saturday.
Despite Biggar going off after just 20 minutes with his knee heavily strapped, the Saints still ran in nine tries to the delight of the Franklin's Gardens faithful.
South Africa's Cobus Reinach led the way with two tries before Tom Wood and Tom Collins also crossed.
The second half saw the Saints run in further tries through Ahsee Tuala, Taqele Naiyaravoro, George Furbank, Rory Hutchinson and Collins.
Both Wales and England head into their clash in Cardiff a week on Saturday having won both their opening matches in the Six Nations, with their meeting at the Principality Stadium shaping up as a potential title-decider.
Wales are already set to be without one ace goalkicker due the ongoing absence of full-back Leigh Halfpenny, and will be desperate not to lose another in Biggar, who has been vying for the Test No 10 shirt with Gareth Anscombe.
But Boyd said: "Dan came out of the Wales against Italy game with a really low grade medial collateral ligament injury. He was keen to play.
"He took a tiny tweak on that and in view of his involvement next weekend, there was some pressure from England to leave him out there!," the Saints boss jokingly added.
"It was precautionary and he just irritated what was a minor thing. I don't see much in that at all. He could have stayed on but at that stage we thought we'd bring him off."
Asked if Biggar would be fit to face England, Boyd replied: "I'd think so. I'm not a medical man but I can't see any reason why he can't be."
Meanwhile Saracens coach Mark McCall said success on three fronts was still possible after a largely youthful side beat Leicester 33-10 as the champions returned to the top of the table.
The London club are also in the quarter-finals of the European Champions Cup, where they will be at home to Glasgow, and have reached next month's Premiership Cup final.
Saracens are currently without several England stars and numerous other internationals because of the Six Nations but tries from Richard Wigglesworth, Tom Woolstencroft, Ben Spencer and veteran wing David Strettle proved too much for the Tigers.
"With the way the boys have played in these past four weeks, helping us put points on the board, we've now got a bit of flexibility in terms of managing the squad so that we're fresh come April and May," said McCall.
Gloucester enjoyed a surprise 24-17 win over former leaders Exeter on Friday, although it wasn't until three minutes from time that a try from Ben Morgan sealed a victory for a Cherry and White side who had wasted scoring opportunities.
"We are grateful for the win but we left a lot of opportunities out there," said Gloucester coach Johan Ackermann.
