Nathan Hines, the former Scotland second-row, returns to action today against Saracens at Allianz Park in the European Champions Cup, having missed three months of the season through injury.

 

The 38-year-old joined Sale Sharks from Clermont in France in the summer, but played only 67 competitive minutes for his new club before suffering an arm injury. He played 63 minutes of their opening-day Aviva Premiership defeat by Bath and then just four in a loss to Gloucester.

Today, the Australian-born player, who earned 77 Scotland caps and played in three World Cups, starts in the second-row alongside the Russian internationalist Andrei Ostrikov. Saracens, who will include Hines' fellow Scots Kelly Brown and Duncan Taylor, won the first meeting between the two sides 19-15.