Farrell is working with Jonny to solve kicking woes
Owen Farrell has been working with Jonny Wilkinson to reverse the goalkicking slump that has affected him throughout the Guinness Six Nations.
Farrell has completed only seven of his 15 shots at goal acrossthefirstthreeroundsof England’scampaign,asuccess rate of just 47 per cent.
The red rose captain was mostwaywardinthe20-10victory over Wales when he landedonlytwooutofsixattempts.
Since the visit to Cardiff, Farrell has been working with England kicking guru Wilkinson, the star of the nation’s 2003 World Cup triumph.
“Half of it is overthinking, so it’s about trying to take it back. I obviously know how to kick,” Farrell said.
“I’ve hit some where I’ve missed but have been happy with how I’ve hit them. I’ve hit some where I’ve been off.
“It’s trying not to overthink one or the other too much, trying not to fix everything and just to get back to kicking the ball as well as I can.
“It’s also having an attitude thatironsthemallout–awhole viewofitsothatyoudon’toverly pick at little things, which is probablywhatI’vebeendoing.
“But I’ve been in this situation before and I’m sure I will againatsomepoint,soit’smaking sure I get back to enjoying my kicks. Part of the answer is trying not to work every single kick out and bounce around from one thing to another. It’s just to kick.”
Marcus Smith has won his duel with George Ford for the role of fly-half understudy to OwenFarrellforEngland’sbiggest test of the Guinness Six Nations yet.
Smith was battling to keep his place on the bench for Saturday’s Twickenham showdown with France but he has been included in a reduced 27man squad at the expensive of his playmaking rival.
Having started against Scotland in round one and then being limited to brief cameos off the bench for Italy and Wales, he was released to play for Harlequins against ExeterwhileFordremainedin the England camp.
A man-of-the-match display against the Chiefs on Saturday underlined his star quality and the 80 minutes have been good enough to get him the nod over Ford, who returns to Sale to accumulate more game time as he finds his way back from an Achilles problem.