One bad game is no reason to drop Owen
JONES DEFENDS SKIPPER AFTER CALLS F3O0RpCt HInAteNrGBElk Cond
EDDIE JONES last night dismissed calls for Owen Farrell to be dropped for his lead role in England’s Calcutta Cup calamity.
Head coach Jones reacted angrily to suggestions his team are in a slump following a home defeat by Scotland that Sir Clive Woodward branded the “worst performance in the history of English rugby”.
While conceding no player is safe from the axe ahead of Saturday’s clash with Italy, he said one poor performance was not sufficient for him to give his captain the boot.
“Owen’s been a highly consistent, highly successful player for us,” said Jones, below.
“Like a number of players on Saturday he wasn’t at his best. Is that a reason to drop the player? I wouldn’t think so.”
Mike Brown disagrees, England’s most-capped full-back calling for Farrell to be benched and George Ford to start at fly-half.
“Enough is enough,” said Brown, frustrated at the absence of bullets provided by Farrell for his outside backs to fire.
“I would give Ford a chance to show how he can lead the backs.”
Jones was quizzed as to whether Farrell, with 93 England and Lions caps and more than 1,000 points to his name, had become untouchable.
“Every player’s up for selection, it’s all dependant on form,” replied the Australian. “You look at historical and present form and you make the right decisions for the team.
“Owen’s no different any other player.”
Jones used Dylan Hartley, Farrell’s predecessor as skipper, to make his point that nobody is fireproof.
“We had to go through a difficult stage with Dylan when his form was tailing off. We gave him time to pick up his form but due to injury and a number of other circumstances, it just wasn’t right for the team,” said Jones.
“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 to whether he’s going to be dropped or not. Owen is an outstanding player.”
Farrell, 29, had a difficult autumn. Sent off and banned for a high tackle for Saracens against Wasps in September, he returned to lift both the Six Nations and Nations Cup.
Although he scored the ‘golden’ goal in the final of the latter tournament, as England belatedly saw off a France third XV, he was far from his best. “We just felt we held back a little bit and we weren’t our usual vibrant selves,”
Jones said.
“But I am not prepared to talk about a slump.”