I WANT FARRELL TO RULE BY FEAR

Jones expects captain to be England enforcer

EDDIE JONES wants Owen Farrell to rule England with an iron fist, saying the new captain can govern by fear in South Africa.

The 26-year-old was picked as the tour skipper for the three Tests against the Springboks — his first trip as leader — in the absence of concussion victim Dylan Hartley.

Jones talked about four great captains he has worked with over his coaching career: Australian World Cup winners John Eales and George Gregan, Springbok legend John Smit, who won the 2007 tournament, and Japan skipper Michael Leitch.

And it is his former scrumhalf Gregan who Jones thinks Farrell can emulate by making his team-mates scared to let him down.

‘George Gregan was fantastic,’ he said. ‘I have never seen a stronger winner than him. He demanded stuff from the team and they were frightened not to give it to him. He was super on the field but not as good off the field.’

That description would seem to fit Farrell (below), who is a talismanic presence on the field but more reserved off it and in front of the media.

When asked if the same might apply to Farrell, the England boss added: ‘That is close to the mark so we need to find people who can work off the field to help him.

‘He is a completely different character from Dylan. He has a different cultural background. Dylan is from Rotorua, Owen is from Wigan. They think of things differently, they look at things differently.

‘Owen will put his own stamp on the team and we want him to do that. We obviously don’t want him to lose some of the great work Dylan’s done. ‘We always had evolution in mind. We were never sure how long Dylan would last as captain and we are still not sure if he will come back. You have a process where you see who comes through and certainly Owen has come through. ‘You don’t expect a captain immediately to be this allconquering figure. It takes time, it takes effort. Owen has got the job for South Africa so he has five weeks to find his own style and we will see how he goes.’ Meanwhile, the England head coach admit- ted there is no plan to replace Paul Gustard if the defence coach joins Harlequins.

Sportsmail understands former Saracens coach Gustard had his final interview for the job at the Stoop at the end of last week and is competing with Wales defence coach Shaun Edwards and former Olympic gold medalwinning Fiji coach Ben Ryan.

Quins could announce their new man early next week, along with an overseeing ‘general manager’ figure.

But Jones is sure he will not need to find a new coach for his South Africa tour at short notice. ‘I don’t know anything to the contrary,’ he said when asked if Gustard would be touring. I don’t deal in rumours. If I dealt in rumours I’d be a nutcase and I’m close enough to that as it is, so I don’t want to get any closer.

‘I don’t have a contingency plan for staff. If a situation arises then I’ll deal with it.’

CHANNEL 4 will screen Scotland’s June fixture against Argentina. And Wales have confirmed Sportsmail’s story that all three of their summer tour matches — against South Africa and Argentina will also be shown on the channel.