Daily Mirror (Northern Ireland)
I won’t be Sarrie if I pick Farrell
JONES HAS NO ISSUES SELECTING STARS PLAYING IN SECOND DIVISION
OWEN FARRELL and his England team-mates at relegation-bound Saracens will be ready when called upon for Test rugby, the London club insisted last night.
On the day Red Rose captain Farrell confirmed his long-term future at Sarries, Eddie Jones said he would have no problem picking their players during the club’s year in the Championship.
Head coach Jones stressed Farrell, Jamie George, Mako and Billy Vunipola, Elliot Daly and Maro Itoje remain central to his plans as long as they maintain their standards. He said: “I’ll be comfortable if they’re in good form. Players who have a track record of Test match success . . I’ve a pretty good idea of where they are and where they need to be.
“Without wishing to sound too grandiose, if I look at
Owen Farrell it does not matter what game he plays, I will have a pretty good understanding of where he is.”
Saracens boss Mark Mccall endorsed that, saying Farrell remains “relentless in pushing everyone in the organisation – players and staff – to be better every day.
He added: “Quite simply, Saracens would not be the club it is without Owen.” For all that, demotion for multiple salary cap breaches means the build-up to the 2021 Lions for potential tourists will be far from ideal – involving second-tier games at the likes of Ampthill and Jersey.
But Kevin Sorrell, Sarries backs coach, had reassuring words for England and the Lions: “There’s a reason these boys are Test match players. There’s a reason they’re proper competitive.
“The nature of these players is they squeeze everything they possibly can out of every session they do. They set the standards.
That’s inbuilt, something they’ve learned over a period of time.
“I’d be absolutely confident they’ll be able to function from a physical point of view.”
Sorrell said Phil Morrow, Saracens’ head of performance and a Lions tourist in 2017, would work with England to ensure conditioning programmes were fit for purpose.
Jones’ other concern was he could have lost the services of Manu Tuilagi when the centre quit Leicester, and “gave him a small piece of advice”. The upshot was Tuilagi (left) remaining in the Premiership with Sale and so eligible to add to his 43 caps. “I’m delighted by his decision as he’s a valuable Test player,” said Jones.