Jones: Every game Owen captains, he gets a little bit better
ENGLAND head coach Eddie Jones says that Owen Farrell is doing “a great job” as England captain following Sunday’s win over Ireland.
The 28-year-old came out on top against the team led by his father, Ireland head coach Andy Farrell, as England ended the visitors’ unbeaten start to the Six Nations.
Jones stressed that the younger Farrell is still adapting to the role after taking over from former England hooker, Dylan Hartley. Farrell has won 14 of his 22 Tests as England captain.
“Neil (Craig, England’s high performance manager) and I were speaking today about the growth of the leadership team. It takes time. Owen is not even two years into the job. Every game he captains, he gets a little bit better,” Jones said.
“It wasn’t about what he did on the field, it was about what he did in the lead-up. It was outstanding how he led the team and we saw that when the players got on the field.
“We had great focus. We had great clarity about how we wanted to play and as a result you can play with great energy.
“It’s just he’s learning to be a better captain. Captaincy is hard. You have a room of all different sorts of people, all different wants and you have to try to find the same page for them and that takes experience.
“He’s doing a great job as captain. Remember last week? He couldn’t captain. People who read the paper told me that was the problem with him. He couldn’t captain.”
Manu Tuilagi’s return added obvious direction to England’s midfield, after he was missing for the majority of the defeat against France and then at Murrayfield in the win over Scotland. But Jones also hailed Tuilagi’s impact off the field, helping the squad’s younger players in a mentoring role.
“He’s powerful, mate. We don’t have a powerful back line, we’ve got good movers but power is a very important part of the game, and when we don’t have him it’s difficult,” Jones said.
“Players get a lot of confidence playing with him, he’s a very popular guy in the team. He looks after young players – he looked after Joe Cokanasiga at the World Cup, he’s looking after Ollie Thorley at the moment – and he just does those things off his own back.
“He’s a caring guy and he adds a lot to the team. In that way he gives us more than just our physical presence.”
Mako Vunipola appears unlikely to return for England’s next match, at home to Wales at Twickenham next weekend, with the Saracens prop having travelled to Tonga last week for family reasons.
Joe Marler returned to the starting XV in Vunipola’s absence, with Ellis Genge again deputising from the bench as one of England’s “finishers”.
Anthony Watson, the injured wing, was to complete a running session yesterday and, if that proves successful, could then return to the camp, with the England squad reassembling tomorrow for three days of training in Oxford. (© The Daily Telegraph, London)