Jamie: Farrell in league of his Owen!
JAMIE George views Owen Farrell as a rugby “genius” whose presence has grown with his promotion to the England captaincy.
While Jonny May brought Twickenham to its feet by grabbing a hat-trick of tries in Sunday’s 44-8 victory over France, it was Farrell who orchestrated the downfall of feeble opponents.
The Saracens playmaker, assisted by half-back partner Ben Youngs, expertly exploited the acres of space available in the backfield through a variety of kicks as England registered their biggest win in the fixture since 1911. In the injury-enforced absence of co-captain Dylan Hartley, Farrell has taken over as sole leader of the team and Saracens team-mate George believes he is thriving as a result.
“The bloke’s a genius. I never see him have a bad game and that’s why he’s one of the best players in the world, if not the best player in the world,” George said.
“In my eyes, it’s amazing to be playing with a fly-half and captain who is as dominant as he is and who leads from the front in the way he does.
“Owen’s been a captain and leader for a long time now. It’s not a new thing for us but he does it really well and it brings the best out of him in terms of his game. He’s performing really well.”
England have dismantled Ireland and France on successive weekends in a majestic start to the Six Nations that has plotted a course to a showdown with Wales on February 23 that could emerge as a title decider.
Wales are also unbeaten and George, now the team’s first-choice hooker ahead of Hartley following another superb afternoon, knows Eddie Jones’ tournament favourites face a tough assignment in Cardiff.
“We have to be aware that we did well against France but recognise it wasn’t the perfect performance,” George said.
“An exciting thing for us is there’s still a lot to come. The important thing for us is to keep the ball rolling.”