Owen Farrell has been urged to bring his confrontational style to the England captaincy and get “in the face” of France by Eddie Jones, but was warned he must curb his aggression when talking to the referee.
Farrell will captain England from the start for the first time on Saturday, having escaped punishment for his role in the tunnel bust-up before England’s defeat by Scotland last month. Farrell was caught on camera running up the tunnel to accost Scotland’s No 8 Ryan Wilson but England argued that he was coming to the aid of George Ford.
Farrell has previous against France after he was fortunate to avoid disciplinary action for an elbow on Morgan Parra in 2013. That incident followed a trip by Louis Picamoles but while France were successful in riling Farrell back then, Jones said he had no qualms turning to his inside-centre once Hartley was ruled out with a calf injury.
“We want him to be in their face. That is one of the best attributes of his play. He is an aggressive, in-your-face type player, we want him to be like that,” said Jones. Asked if the tunnel incident at Murrayfield affected his decision, Jones added: “Not at all. He did what was right for the team. I expect our players to do what is right for the team.”
While Hartley has captained England for 25 of Jones’s 26 matches in charge – Chris Robshaw and George Ford shared the responsibility against Samoa in the autumn – Farrell habitually takes over when the hooker is replaced. He did so against Australia in November but Jones was forced to defend Farrell’s manner when remonstrating with the referee, Ben O’Keeffe, to ensure a Wallabies try was reviewed and subsequently disallowed.
“We don’t want him to be aggressive and in the face of [Saturday’s referee] Jaco [Peyper],” added Jones. “That is when he is going to have to have that ability to change but he does that with his goal-kicking. He slows himself down and gets his heart-rate down and kicks superbly and that is the role he will have to do when he needs to speak to the referee.”
Quick guide
France v England teams
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England starting XV: 15 Anthony Watson (Bath, 31 caps), 14 Jonny May (Leicester, 32 caps), 13 Ben Te’o (Worcester, 11 caps), 12 Owen Farrell (Saracens, 56 caps) C, 11 Elliot Daly (Wasps, 16 caps), 10 George Ford (Leicester, 43 caps), 9 Danny Care (Harlequins, 79 caps), 1 Mako Vunipola (Saracens, 47 caps), 2 Jamie George (Saracens, 23 caps), 3 Dan Cole (Leicester, 80 caps), 4 Joe Launchbury (Wasps, 50 caps), 5 Maro Itoje (Saracens, 17 caps), 6 Courtney Lawes (Northampton, 64 caps), 7 Chris Robshaw (Harlequins, 62 caps), 8 Nathan Hughes (Wasps, 13 caps).
Replacements: 16 Luke Cowan-Dickie (Exeter, 4 caps), 17 Joe Marler (Harlequins, 54 caps), 18 Kyle Sinckler (Harlequins, 8 caps), 19 James Haskell (Wasps, 75 caps), 20 Sam Simmonds (Exeter, 5 caps), 21 Richard Wigglesworth (Saracens, 29 caps), 22 Jonathan Joseph (Bath, 38 caps), 23 Mike Brown (Harlequins, 67 caps).
France: H Bonneval; B Fall, M Bastareaud, G Doumayrou, R Grosso; F Trinh-Duc, M Machenaud; J Poirot, G Guirado (C), R Slimani, P Gabrillagues, S Vahaamhina, W Lauret, Y Camara, M Tauleigne.
Replacements: A Pelissie, D Priso, C Gomes, R Taofifenua, K Galletier, B Couilloud, L Beauxis, G Fickou.
Farrell also expressed confidence England will not suffer without Hartley’s communication skills. “Dylan does it very well, he’s very calm,” said Farrell, who revealed he is studying business management and leadership at Northumbria University.
“You’ve got to be very clear and I’ll be trying to take a bit of that on. You see what type of player I am and you see a lot of that in leaders. Hopefully, I will lead from the front and, first and foremost, play well.”
Farrell will deliver England’s team talk on Saturday but Hartley, his room-mate at England’s camp in Bagshot, will also travel to Paris. “Whenever you get a transfer of power there is always a grey area and those two will work it out for themselves,” said Jones.
“Every good player just wants clear, direct messages and you are going to get that from Owen. He’s a man of few words, he’s a northerner and he gets to the point. He has been super-loyal to Dylan and to the team, so when Dylan was unavailable it was an easy option for me to take, because we want someone in the same mould as Dylan.”
Jones brushed off reports earlier this week that he approached Australia to discuss the possibility of returning to the Wallabies job in 2019, before he agreed a contract extension with England in January. “I think it was my daughter [who works for Rugby Australia] spreading rumours,” said Jones. “It is just complete media speculation. I am contracted and committed to winning the World Cup with England and then I am contracted until 2021 and that is the situation.”
Quick guide
England women ring changes for France
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The England women’s head coach Simon Middleton has warned that France will pose a huge threat to his team’s title ambitions as he made seven changes for the pivotal Six Nations match tomorrow evening.
“France are a dangerous side,” said Middleton. “They are physical and well organised in both attack and defence. The squad have worked hard this week, prepared really well and we are ready and excited.”
The captain Sarah Hunter and Rachael Burford both return from injury to the starting XV at No 8 and outside-centre respectively. In the backline Ellie Kildunne starts at full-back with the Wasps duo Danielle Waterman – who scored two tries in the 43-8 victory against Scotland – and Abigail Dow on the wings. Amber Reed starts at inside-centre and Leanne Riley and Katy Daley-Mclean again start at nine and 10.
The front five remain unchanged with Vickii Cornborough, Amy Cokayne – who earns her 40th cap – and Sarah Bern in the front row. Abbie Scott and Tamara Taylor again make up the second row. In the back row Poppy Cleall moves to blindside flanker and is joined by Saracens team-mate Marlie Packer at openside flanker. Rochelle Clark, Justine Lucas and Izzy Noel-Smith are named on the bench. England last faced France in the semi-finals of the Women’s Rugby World Cup, winning 20-3 in Belfast.
E Kildunne (Gloucester-Hartpury), A Dow (Wasps), R Burford (Harlequins), A Reed (Bristol), D Waterman (Wasps), K Daley-Mclean (Darlington Mowden Park), L Riley (Harlequins); V Cornborough (Harlequins), A Cokayne (Wasps), S Bern (Gloucester-Hartpury), A Scott (Harlequins), T Taylor (Darlington Mowden Park), P Cleall (Saracens), M Packer (Saracens), S Hunter (Loughborough). Replacements: L Davies (Worcester), R Clark (Wasps), J Lucas (Wasps), R Burnfield (Richmond), I Noel-Smith (Bristol), C Mattinson (Bristol), L Tuima (Bristol), C Pearce (Loughborough).