Eddie Jones has given a qualified vote of confidence to his captain, Owen Farrell, following last weekend's Calcutta Cup defeat but says the captain will be treated "no differently" to other players if his form does not improve. Although Farrell endured one of his least effective days in an England jersey against Scotland, he appears set to feature again in the squad to face Italy.
While the outhalf was far from the only England player to underperform against the Scots, Jones has the option of reinstating George Ford at number 10 and must now weigh up whether or not Saturday’s game was an unfortunate blip. “Owen was disappointed with his performance against Scotland,” said Jones.
“Like a number of players, he wasn’t at his best. But like any outstanding player they can have a game where they’re not at their best. Is that a reason to drop the player? I wouldn’t think so. He’s been a highly consistent, highly successful player for us.”
Dropped
The 29-year-old Farrell, even so, will not be granted preferential status despite having played 89 Tests for England and racking up almost 1,000 points for his country. “Owen’s no different to any other player. It’s the same for anyone who’s the captain of the side, they’ve got to keep performing at a high level. But having one game where they’re not at the level expected is not a reason to start speculating on whether he’s going to be dropped or not.”
Jones, who has welcomed back Mako Vunipola and Kyle Sinckler from injury and suspension respectively in place of Harry Williams and Tom West, also disputed that England are now in a slump after a poor start to the Six Nations. "You guys must have a new thesaurus. I always thought slump was about having three or four bad games. Now it must be one game," he said.
Wales will be without the injured Dan Lydiate, Tomos Williams, Johnny Williams and Hallam Amos for their visit to Scotland, while Nick Tompkins (shoulder) and George North (eye) are still being assessed.
With Jonathan Davies still recovering from an ankle injury, it leaves the head coach, Wayne Pivac, short of midfield cover – Dragons centre Jamie Roberts is among the candidates for an emergency call-up.
– Guardian
