‘Just get in their faces’
Jones tells new England captain Farrell to lead from the front and be brutal and ruthless in Paris
Eddie Jones has called on new captain Owen Farrell to lead England with an “in-your-face” aggression against France in Paris tomorrow after the Saracen received full backing for his role in the tunnel fracas at Murrayfield.
Farrell starts as England captain for the first time after hooker Dylan Hartley was yesterday ruled out with a calf injury, paving the way for a second start for Jamie George in one of three changes to the side that lost to Scotland.
Jones’s most radical selection of his two-year tenure sees both Jonathan Joseph and Mike Brown dropped to the bench, with Anthony Watson switched to full-back while a fit-again Elliot Daly returns to the left wing.
Jonny May switches to the right wing to replace Watson in what will be one of the fastest back threes ever fielded by England, while Ben Te’o is promoted to outside centre to combat the physical threat of Mathieu Bastareaud as England bid to resurrect their Natwest Six Nations title hopes.
Jones claimed Farrell had done “what was right for the team” in a pre-match scuffle with Ryan Wilson after the Scotland No 8 had exchanged words with George Ford – and expects a similarly abrasive mindset from his captain in Paris.
“We want him [Farrell] to be in their face,” said Jones. “That is one of the best attributes of his play. He is an aggressive, inyour-face type player. We want him to be like that. Against France, we want to be brutal and aggressive on the gain line and to play with a great tactical discipline.
“He’s a passionate, aggressive player and he’ll lead from the front. He’s a northerner and he gets to the point. What he says, they will understand. He expects high standards.
“[He will bring] strong, direct and clear messages. A sense of urgency, a sense of pride and a massive dose of loyalty.
“As long as we are brutal and ruthless at the gain-line, I think we will have too much for them.” Farrell has led England before when Hartley has been substituted and his leadership came under scrutiny for the way he spoke to the referee when he was captain at the end of England’s win against Australia in November. Jones, however, has identified a maturity in Farrell’s leadership skills over the past year. “We don’t want him to be aggressive and in the face of [Jaco] Peyper [the referee tomorrow]. That is when he is going to have that ability to change but he does that with his goal-kicking, every time he goal-kicks, he slows himself down and gets his heart-rate down and kicks superbly and that is the role he will have to do when he speaks to the referee. “He knows what he wants to do, he knows what the team needs to do and he is quite direct in communicating that. He expects high standards. “He has been super-loyal to Dylan and to the team, so when Dylan was unavailable it was an easy option for me to take, because we want someone in the same mould as Dylan.” Farrell, who is cur- rently writing a dissertation in lead- ership as part of a distance-learning degree at the University of Northumberland, says he has drawn on the experience of all the captains he has played under, including Sam Warburton with the Lions.
“Dylan does it very well,” Farrell added. “He is very calm. You’ve got to be very clear and I’ve worked with him so I’ll be trying to take a bit of that on,” he said. “You would be stupid not to pick up things that others do well, people you admire.”
Hartley will still travel to Paris for what will be the first time in 27 Tests under Jones that England have been without the Northampton hooker and will help Farrell with his pre-match responsibilities. Mako Vunipola has been appointed vice-captain and pack leader.
The decision to drop Brown, whom Jones has consistently backed, is arguably the most eyecatching change but it was described as a “horses for courses” selection. “We think that we need a really fast back three for this game,” Jones added.
“I want to be able to pick a more defensive back three and an attacking back three. I think Brown is close to the best defensive full-back in the world, with Leigh Halfpenny. For this game, we have decided to go with a more attacking back three and Anthony fills that bill with Elliot.”
Jones has also worked specifi- cally on improving the mental approach of the players this week to address the lack of intensity. “We’ve tried to change the mindset of the players,” Jones added. “We didn’t get the mindset of the players right for the last game, so we’ve done more work on that area than we did for Scotland. It’s not just Owen’s responsibility, it’s everyone’s.”
Jones insisted he was not interested in becoming Australia head coach after the World Cup, being linked to a shortlist of candidates to replace Michael Cheika.
“I am contracted and committed to winning the World Cup with England and then I am contracted until 2021,” he added.