CAPTAIN, LEADER LEARNER
Farrell will combine the new England skipper’s job with finishing a 12,000-word dissertation for his degree in business... and leadership
OWEN FARRELL was handed the England captaincy with instructions to be himself and get in the faces of the French.
Team boss Eddie Jones had no hesitation in passing his feisty playmaker the armband, despite it being Farrell who appeared to spark the tunnel scuffle with Scotland at Murrayfield.
“He did what was right for the team,” snapped Jones, on the incident he previously admitted to tackling Farrell about.
“I expect our players to do what is right for the team. We want Owen to be in the opposition’s face. That is one of the best attributes of his play. He is an aggressive, in-yourface player.”
Farrell’s opportunity comes after injury claimed Dylan Hartley.
He will lead a new-look team minus full-back Mike Brown and centre Jonathan Joseph. Jamie George gets Hartley’s shirt, with Mako Vunipola appointed secondin-command.
“It’s a must-win game for us,” said Jones (below). “So we’ve decided to go with what we think is the strongest leadership structure.”
Farrell vowed to ensure England’s “attitude and intensity” is better than in Scotland.
While he rejected the chance to give his post-match speech in French – “I got a D at GCSE” – he did reveal he is immersed in an online degree in business management and, yes, leadership. “I’ve got a 12,000-word dissertation due in this summer,” he said. “Subject still to be confirmed!”
England will need him to be more decisive in the Stade de France cauldron, but Jones, who famously wakes at 4am, is not losing sleep over it. “Owen knows the position carries a lot of responsibility,” added Jones, who said Farrell’s “super-loyalty” to Hartley made him an easy choice as “we want someone in the same mould as Dylan”.
What he does not want is for “no-nonsense” Farrell to be in the face of referee Jaco Peyper, but, again, he has faith in the 26-year-old’s ability to switch from in-match aggression to diplomacy.
“He does that with his goalkicking,” said Jones. “Every time he goal-kicks, he slows himself down and gets his heart-rate down and kicks superbly.
“That is what he will have to do when he is captain and needs to speak to the referee.”