Farrell’s disappointing performance in England’s shock Six Nations loss against Scotland at Twickenham has led to scrutiny over his place.
LONDON – Eddie Jones says he will keep faith with Owen Farrell for now, but England’s head coach warned his captain that he is not undroppable.
Farrell’s disappointing performance in England’s shock Six Nations loss against Scotland at Twickenham has led to scrutiny over his place.
Some pundits feel Farrell’s influence on the field has declined recently due to the Saracens fly-half’s poor form.
Jones made it clear that Farrell will remain in the team for Saturday’s match against Italy, but he wouldn’t go any further than that.
Asked if he would drop his skipper, Jones said: “Every player’s up for selection.
“It’s all dependant on form – you look at historical form, present form and you have to make the right decisions for the team and Owen’s no different to any other player.
“Owen was disappointed with his performance against Scotland, like a number of players and like I was in my own performance and we’re all working to improve.
“Owen’s been a highly-consistent, highly-successful player for us. Like a number of players on Saturday, he wasn’t at his best. I know there’s a bandwagon.
“He’s an outstanding player and, 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.
“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 defended Farrell once more when he was asked about the Lions playmaker’s reluctance to launch his backline in favour of kicking.
“There are five million situations in the game and we don’t coach five million situations,” Jones said.
AFP
