EDDIE’S ENGLAND MIDFIELD MUDDLE

Jones backs Farrell and Ford axis for Six Nations but has his doubts for World Cup

EDDIE JONES cannot be sure if playing George Ford and Owen Farrell together is England’s best World Cup bet.

But with so many top players out injured, he feels they hold the key to Six Nations success this year.

In Rome on Sunday the playmaking duo combined superbly to hand Italy a seven-try hammering.

And with Ben Youngs the latest casualty, Jones believes the midfield brains trust can now inspire England against Wales.

“Has my view of them changed? To be honest I didn’t really know – and I still don’t,” said the Aussie.

“The best option may be Ford and Ben Te’o, it might be Farrell and Te’o, it might be Alex Lozowski.

“What I do know is that those two guys together give us plenty of options. They’re getting a great understanding on how to play and use their collective talent.”

That is key, Jones insists, given his belief that this England team is stronger than the sum of its parts. Our game is based on collective talent,” he explained. “We don’t have a lot of guys individually who can run through brick walls, we don’t have a lot of big carriers.

“So we’ve got to be inventive in how we play, we’ve got to do it through collective talent.”

Jones loved the way Ford and Farrell “invented stuff that gave us momentum” in the 46-15 win at Stadio Olimpico.

Twice in the first 12 minutes they spotted opportunities wide right and both times Ford looped around Farrell for Anthony Watson to cash in. By the finish they had carved out further tries for each other and Jones added: “George and Owen together see the game better than anyone.”

Wales will be a tougher nut to crack and Jones injected experience by replacing Youngs with Richard Wigglesworth (circle), by two years the oldest in the squad.

The 34-year-old goes straight into the match-day 23, though Danny Care will likely start at Twickenham and overtake Matt Dawson to become England’s most-capped No.9.

Care’s thoughts last night were for Youngs, who suffered a ruptured knee ligament in the first half against Italy (left) and will be out for four months.

“You never want to see a bad injury like that,” he said.

“First thing’s first, he’s a good mate as well as a competitor for the shirt. He’s in pain and all our thoughts are with him.”