England captain Owen Farrell has been working with Jonny Wilkinson to rectify his wayward kicking form during the 2023 Six Nations.

Meanwhile, defence coach Kevin Sinfield explained why Marcus Smith has been recalled in place of George Ford ahead of the France game.

Wilkinson linked up with the squad following the win against Wales to help Farrell rediscover his usual high standards from the kicking tee.

Poor form off the tee

Farrell has landed just seven of his 15 attempts at goal over the opening three rounds of the tournament – a success rate of just 47 per cent.

Against Wales, the 31-year-old successfully slotted just two of his six shots at goal in the 20-10 victory.

Ahead of this weekend’s clash against France, Farrell addressed concerns about his kicking.

“Half of it is overthinking, so it’s about trying to take it back. I obviously know how to kick,” the Red Rose skipper explained.

“I’ve hit some where I’ve missed but have been happy with how I’ve hit them. I’ve hit some where I’ve been off.

“It’s trying not to overthink one or the other too much, trying not to fix everything, and just to get back to kicking the ball as well as I can.

“It’s also having an attitude that irons them all out – a whole view of it so that you don’t overly pick at little things, which is probably what I’ve been doing.

“But I’ve been in this situation before, and I’m sure I will again at some point, so it’s making sure I get back to enjoying my kicks.

“Part of the answer is trying not to work every single kick out and bounce around from one thing to another. It’s just to kick.”

Ford returns to Sale Sharks for game time

Meanwhile, Smith has won his duel with Ford as Farrell’s understudy for Le Crunch.

A man-of-the-match performance against Exeter underlined Smith’s star quality and was enough to get him the nod over Ford, who returns to Sale to accumulate more game time.

“George has been wonderful, but we just felt that at this moment in time he’s going to need some more minutes at his club,” defence coach Sinfield said.

“George hasn’t been long back in the fold. He has been outstanding, and we have no doubt that if he was to stay, he’d be great for us. But we think that at this moment in time, the best thing for him is to get minutes at Sale.

“I thought Marcus was outstanding against Exeter, but he has trained like that over the last six weeks. We’ve seen first-hand what he’s been capable of, and he’s in the mix against France.”

READ MORE: Marcus Smith: Five key areas from Saturday’s performance which would have impressed Steve Borthwick

The article England: Jonny Wilkinson working with Owen Farrell and why Marcus Smith returns at George Ford’s expense appeared first on Planetrugby.com.