Farrell op hands Eddie captaincy headache
ENGLAND captain Owen Farrell sent a scare through Eddie Jones’ Six Nations camp yesterday by undergoing thumb surgery.
Farrell was withdrawn from Saracens’ starting line-up before yesterday's European Cup tie against Glasgow to undergo a procedure.
With England co-captain Dylan Hartley also likely to be ruled out until England's third Championship game, against Wales, by a knee injury, Jones looks as if he could face a captaincy crisis with only a fortnight before England’s tournament opener against Ireland in Dublin.
However, Saracens director of rugby Mark McCall, last night moved to allay fears by insisting it was only a minor operation, saying he had been told that the injury to Farrell should not rule him out of contention for the match.
McCall said: “Owen has been complaining – but not very much – about his hand being a bit sore.
“We decided on Friday to send him for a scan to make sure we know what he’s got. We thought he was going to play today and it was after the scan that he was pulled out.
“It turned out to be a very minor problem with a tendon in his thumb. The procedure has already been done this morning.
“As far as I know he’ll be
back in seven days, something like that, so he should be able to play a full part in the Six Nations.”
McCall added he was certain that Farrell would attend the England training camp in Portugal this week: “I’m sure he will be going to Portugal because I think he’ll be available for selection.
“As far as I know England aren’t training until Friday, and I think he’ll be able to train on the Friday – but I haven’t spoken to our medical team since the procedure has been done.”
Meanwhile England boss Jones stepped into the spying row consuming English football by revealing he participated in espionage during his coaching career in Australia.
He also said he considers there is a clear danger of spying taking place on a large scale at the 2019 World Cup in Japan.
Jones said that the revelations of spying involving Leeds manager Marcelo Bielsa are nothing new in Rugby Union.
“I was just watching that Leeds bloke telling everyone what everyone does. Like, everyone does that!”
He added: “Fifteen years ago we used to send people out in costumes to watch training. You don’t need to do that now because you see everything. You can get ten different visions of the game. I can say with a hand on my heart, we don’t do it any more. We can glean most of the stuff from the games now.”
Jones said his spying antics began “back in the early 2000s”. He continued: “It used to be part of the pre-match brief. I can remember sending a coach who is in a very senior position now in a costume to go and watch one team play, and he got chased out. He was dressed up like a swagman in a hat with corks.”
Jones said there was a “massive danger” of the high rise buildings surrounding the stadia in Japanese cities hosting the forthcoming World Cup providing perfect cover for rugby espionage, especially cracking line-out codes.
“There are a number of grounds in Japan that are surrounded by office buildings, so the ability to film the opposition’s training is there if you want to do it.”