« SIR CLIVE WOODWARD,
I’ ve backed Owen Farrell as england’s captain-elect for a long time so it is no surprise to see him leading his country out at the Stade de France this evening with Dylan Hartley injured.
Not only is Farrell the obvious choice, I believe captaincy will make him an even better player — and he’s world class already!
Today is definitely a pointer to the future and when he settles into the job, he will be a huge success and cement his place among the england legends such as Martin Johnson and Lawrence Dallaglio. Farrell will join that elite group one day.
The greatest compliment you can pay a player is that the opposition do not want to face him — or a team captained by him.
Captaincy will add the final polish to his game. You could argue his fiery edge is both a strength and a weakness. He never backs down and is very confrontational. But as captain, he will need to dial it down a little and control it.
The tunnel incident against Scotland was something and nothing but as captain he shouldn’t be getting involved in anything like that. eddie Jones spoke about the great responsibility the england captaincy carries. He’s right.
Farrell will be targeted — I would have targeted him if I was playing! It clearly happened in edinburgh. He will never give an inch but playing away is where you really need your guys to front up.
It took Johnson a long time to control his discipline but it became the cornerstone of his great captaincy.
Look how the captaincy brought out the best in Hartley. Under Jones, he has eradicated the wilder side of his game and been really good at developing a rapport with referees.
It will be a baptism of fire for Farrell. At Twickenham this would be a 15- to 20-point win for england, but under the lights in Paris I make it a 50-50 game.
One thing is for sure though. Barring injury, I expect to see the england captain on the pitch until the final whistle!
Also, if Hartley’s replacement, Jamie George, is kept on late into the game, I’d be having a word in eddie’s ear on Monday morning if I was Hartley, asking: ‘Why can’t I be allowed to do that?’
Up front england have a familiar look, eddie is trusting the pack that underperformed against Scotland and I am expecting a snarly bounce-back with england’s big names working off their frustration. I would have tickled with the back row though.
If Sam Simmonds is fit to play from the bench, I would have started him at seven and made a straight call between Courtney Lawes and Chris Robshaw at six. Selection should be about picking a team to play the way you want, but it feels like this back-row selection is based on what France are doing. Having said that, I expect an angry england pack to go well.
THeReare whispers that Maro Itoje and Mako vunipola are a bit drained and not quite at their best after a busy couple of seasons with Saracens and england. I don’t believe it, and would be very surprised if the duo don’t produce outstanding performances.
Neither were at their best against Scotland but that happens. Over the course of a season, there will be matches when you don’t hit your straps. But Maro and Mako are fine. They are incredibly fit young guys who just need one good performance to get firing again. You’re never drained when you are winning, only when you lose! OveR in Dublin, Scotland have to concentrate on their own game against in-form Ireland as Gregor Townsend looks to get his side winning on the road. Away wins for Scotland in the NatWest 6 Nations are very rare — they have won only twice outside Rome — but they now have the players to start aiming for a few major scalps. Unlike in Cardiff at the start of the tournament, Scotland are under no pressure.
They froze against Wales but rediscovered their game with a gutsy win over France and a brilliant performance against england.
Scotland are in a good place, their season is made and now they can enjoy themselves against the Irish. The balance of having the steady Greig Laidlaw and the more mercurial Finn Russell at No 10 works much better for them.
None of this guarantees a Scotland win because Ireland are a mighty team who could even close out the Championship in Dublin today. The Irish are favourites and my tip as winners but I’m confident we will see the real Scotland turn up.