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Owen Farrell ruled out of Six Nations as Eddie Jones tips captain to return 'better than ever'

Owen Farrell - Owen Farrell ruled out of Six Nations after suffering 'freak' injury in training - GETTY IMAGES
Owen Farrell - Owen Farrell ruled out of Six Nations after suffering 'freak' injury in training - GETTY IMAGES

Eddie Jones challenged England’s new leadership group to fill the void left by captain Owen Farrell whom he tipped to return “better than ever” from back-to-back ankle injuries.

Farrell underwent surgery on Wednesday morning that will rule him out of the entire Six Nations. In a further setback, wing Jonny May is also likely to miss the tournament with a knee injury while second row Jonny Hill is rated “touch and go” for England’s opening match against Scotland on February 5.

It is a particularly bitter blow for Farrell having only just recovered from a left ankle injury sustained against Australia in November to then injure the right ankle when he trod on a player’s foot in Saracens’ training session last week. Saracens revealed the surgery went well and anticipate that he will be back in 8-10 weeks. There was a more positive diagnosis for centre Manu Tuilagi and lock Joe Launchbury who are both on track to be available for England’s third-round match against Wales on February 26.

Farrell, who had played in every previous Six Nations match under Jones, will have been out of action for five months in total. Yet Jones’ faith in the 30-year-old is undiminished. The England head coach pointed to the example of All Blacks fly-half Dan Carter, who endured his own injury misfortune, as proof that Farrell’s best years are potentially ahead of him.

“I think there's a lot of evidence for over-30 players, particularly, and the young guys coming through, where they can play their best rugby from 30 to 35,” Jones said. “If you look at Dan Carter, what a great example. He won the World Cup at 33 and was absolutely superb. There’s no reason why Owen can’t be moving into a very important part of his career. Sometimes you’ve got to train differently when you get to over 30. That’s the communication with him and his S&C coaches at his club and with us, but there’s no reason why he can’t get better.

“Look, Owen’s one of the most resilient, most driven players that I know. He's got to take his medicine now, which is to have the operation, rehab, go through all that pain, but he wants to be the best player he can be. He wants to captain England again, he wants to play for England again. So he'll apply himself really well to his rehab and he could come back better than ever. And that's what we're anticipating.”

England head coach Jones will not reveal who will replace Farrell as skipper until he names his side to travel to Murrayfield next Thursday. Flanker Tom Curry assumed the media duties for the Six Nations launch on Wednesday while Courtney Lawes, who is unable to train this week as he recovers from a concussion, captained England during Farrell’s absence in the autumn.

Yet rather than relying on a single individual to take on Farrell’s mantle, Jones wants the collective leadership group to lead England through to the 2023 World Cup. “We're looking forward to the opportunity to create a greater leadership density within the team and even the few days we've been together, the four or five guys plus a greater ring of players have started that process,” Jones said. “Sitting next to me here is one of the most competitive players I've ever coached (Curry). With Owen there we had two of those guys. Now Tom is going to have to raise his game a little bit, as is everyone else in the team to make up for the absence of Owen, and we are very confident we can do that.”

On the field, Henry Slade is set to fill Farrell’s role at inside centre outside either Marcus Smith or George Ford, although like others he has been unable to train this week. “We might move Sladey into 12 where he played against South Africa almost to handle that role,” Jones said. “He's got a few bumps and bruises from Montpellier so he won't be on the track until probably Friday.”

Meanwhile, Tuilagi’s comeback from a hamstring injury has been pushed back until Sale’s trip to Harlequins on February 6, but Sharks director of rugby Alex Sanderson is confident that he will be available for international selection shortly afterwards. “He has been out training today and looking good but we were being overly careful about this weekend,” Sanderson said. “England have total autonomy over when he plays and if he looks really good next week then he will go straight in for Italy.”

Meanwhile, Scotland head coach Gregor Townsend is anticipating a very different challenge from England with Smith rather than Farrell at the helm as the team’s playmaker. “It changes things,” said Townsend, who worked with Smith on last summer’s Lions tour to South Africa. “If [Marcus] is selected then England will play a different way. They’re going to have to bring Marcus into the game and show his strengths, so we’ve got to negate that. We’ve got to be aware that it is a different style of rugby.”