England let down Farrell, says Sarries star Jackson

Jackson, who was named the Professional Rugby Players' Association player of the year this week, believes Farrell was "hung out to dry" during the Six Nations, which saw the England centre castigated for his part in the record defeat in Ireland before injury curtailed his international season.

The former rugby league star is fully fit again and will have a crucial part to play in tomorrow's Premiership play-off, semi-final against Gloucester at Kingsholm, with the winners going into a Twickenham final on 12 May against Leicester or Bristol.

Jackson has absolute faith in Farrell's union abilities, having seen the former Wigan player overcome two years of injury setbacks and launch himself on the union scene.

Farrell, though, still bears the scars of Dublin and refused any media interviews this week, believing he was harshly treated in the wake of that match.

Jackson said: "Andy has come back well after being hung out to dry by England. He offers so much that he could help England win the World Cup. I never had any doubts he would make a big impact in union.

"I am really delighted he's been selected for this summer's tour to South Africa and from the first moment he arrived at Sarries you could see that here was somebody very special.

"By not playing right away when he moved to union probably helped because the spotlight wasn't immediately on him."

Gloucester, who finished top, were the only Premiership side to remain unbeaten at home during the regular season while Sarries have won only one of their last six away matches in the league.

But they did win at Watford against the west country outfit when Jackson contributed 14 points in a hard-fought 24-22 victory.

Jackson will go into the game with 272 points to his name and said: "It's been a tough season and we know that after this game it will either be a first play-off final or a holiday.

"We lost at Worcester last weekend but the rugby gods were smiling down on us and other results meant we finished fourth and we cannot afford to play lethargically again.

"You could say that this is our best chance to beat Gloucester because of the redevelopment work at the ground which has reduced the capacity to 9,000. Maybe the Shed won't be as loud as usual."

A measure of how good Jackson has been this season is the fact that his nearest rivals in the points tally are Bath's Olly Barkley, on 185, and Adrian Jarvis, of Harlequins, on 181.

London Irish, meanwhile, have signed All Black prop Clarke Dermody, who helped New Zealand defeat England at Twickenham last November.

The 27-year-old has signed a two-year contract.

Brian Smith, London Irish's director of rugby, said: "We've been tracking Clarke since the England game. He has great technique and he is just coming into his prime."