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RFU disciplinary department confirm Owen Farrell will be available
Owen Farrell will lead England into their Six Nations opener after Steve Borthwick responded to criticism of the Saracens fly-half being cleared to play by stating he must select the best available players.
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Farrell is serving a four-match ban for a dangerous challenge while on club duty against Gloucester on January 6 that will be reduced by one game if he completes a tackle course.
But in a controversial move that has been described as exploiting a loophole in the disciplinary process, the January 28 appointment with Bristol is included among the fixtures he must miss, ensuring his availability to face Scotland on February 4.
Players involved in the opening match of the Six Nations are stood down from the final round of club games before the Championship begins, yet in this instance it counts towards Farrell’s suspension.
While Borthwick’s number two Kevin Sinfield admitted that “Owen fully accepts he needs to change and is willing to work extremely hard at it”, England’s new head coach had no hesitation in retaining the Lions playmaker as skipper.
“I know there has been a period of uncertainty around Owen’s availability,” Borthwick said.
“I was informed unequivocally by the Rugby Football Union’s legal department on Friday that Owen would be available for the first game of the Six Nations.
“Owen accepts his suspension and can’t wait to be back on the field. My point of view is that I’m England head coach and my job is to select the players that are available to me.
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“The disciplinary system is run completely as an independent process and I think we’d agree there should be that split – the England head coach and the disciplinary system should be completely separate, and that’s the case.”
Under Eddie Jones, Farrell was replaced as captain by Courtney Lawes only to be put back in charge when the Northampton flanker was forced to miss the autumn through concussion.
Lawes has recovered to be included in a 36-man squad for the Six Nations but has been demoted to vice-skipper alongside Ellis Genge, Borthwick instead opting for his former Saracens team-mate.
“I’ve known Owen since he was 17 or 18-years-old. Now it’s normal that when a 17 or 18-year-old enters first-team training at the start of their careers, they are quiet and reserved,” Borthwick said.
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“Owen’s different. Owen came on to the training field and everyone was struck with awe by how hard he pushes himself.
“Everybody was also struck by how much he demanded of those around him. That’s Owen, it’s what he does and why he is captain of England.”
Borthwick has been heavily influenced by club form as he looks to build an “England team that plays with courage and fights in every single contest”.
Unafraid to drop big names who were regular picks under predecessor Jones, Borthwick has jettisoned Billy Vunipola, Jack Nowell and Jonny May, but there are recalls for Dan Cole and Elliot Daly.
Cole was dropped by England after the 2019 World Cup final, a reaction to the team’s dismal scrummaging performance, while Daly has been frozen out since last year’s Six Nations despite his superb form for Saracens.
Northampton’s rookie fly-half Fin Smith is present for the first time, providing cover for Farrell and Marcus Smith, while Ollie Hassell-Collins, George McGuigan, Cadan Murley and Jack Walker are the other uncapped players.
“We want an England squad where you have players competing for places. We sat for hours this week discussing selection and it should be that way,” Borthwick said.
“It should be tough and there will be good players – really high quality players – who are not selected.”
England 36-man squad for the Six Nations:
Forwards: O Chessum (Leicester Tigers), D Cole (Leicester Tigers), B Curry (Sale Sharks), A Dombrandt (Harlequins), B Earl (Saracens), E Genge (Bristol Bears), J George (Saracens), J Heyes (Leicester Tigers), J Hill (Sale Sharks), N Isiekwe (Saracens), M Itoje (Saracens), C Lawes (Northampton Saints), L Ludlam (Northampton Saints), G McGuigan (Gloucester Rugby), B Rodd (Sale Sharks), S Simmonds (Exeter Chiefs), K Sinckler (Bristol Bears), M Vunipola (Saracens), J Walker (Harlequins), J Willis (Toulouse).
Backs: E Daly (Saracens), O Farrell (Saracens), T Freeman (Northampton Saints), O Hassell-Collins (London Irish), D Kelly (Leicester Tigers), M Malins (Saracens), J Marchant (Harlequins), A Mitchell (Northampton Saints), C Murley (Harlequins), H Slade (Exeter Chiefs), F Smith (Northampton Saints), M Smith (Harlequins), F Steward (Leicester Tigers), M Tuilagi (Sale Sharks), J van Poortvliet (Leicester Tigers), B Youngs (Leicester Tigers).
Comments on RugbyPass
Why cant I watch Rugby games please?
1 Go to commentsBeautiful shot from Finau, end of story. Gutted for Shaun Stevenson though.
4 Go to commentsThe Chiefs definitely didn’t win ugly. They had the superior scrum, a dominant lineout, and their defence was excellent once the Waratahs scored their two tries (thanks to some lucky refereeing calls mind you). They put pressure on the Waratahs lineout throughout the game, and the mind boggles as to why the referee did not award a yellow card or a penalty try against the Waratahs for repeated scrum infringements on their own try line before Narawa’s first try. And the Chiefs were slick with their passing and running angles on attack. It was a dominant performance all round, even with many questionable refereeing decisions.
1 Go to commentsWasnt late. Ref 2 assistants andTMO all saw it so who are you to say it was?
4 Go to commentsAre the Brumbies playing the Blues twice in a row?
4 Go to commentsBig difference from the Saders. Forwards really muscled up and laid a solid platform. Scooter brought some steel and I liked the loosie combination. Newell has been rather disappointing this season but stepped up big time - happy also to see Franks dot down. He should do that more often! Reihana had a good game and there seems to be more flair and invention with him in the saddle. McNicoll plays well from the back and is reliable plus inventive when he joins the line. Keep it up chaps!
3 Go to comments🤦♂️🤣 who cares who’s the best . All I know is the All Blacks have the star coach but have few star players now …
30 Go to commentsJe suis sûr que Farrell est impatient de jouer avec Lopez et Machenaud et d’être entraîné par Collazo… 🤭
1 Go to commentsAn on field red (aka a full red) in SRP must surely carry a bigger suspension than a red card given by the bunker as that carries a 20 minute team punishment. Had Damon Murphy abdicated his responsibility as a ref and issued both Drua players a yellow, which would have been upgraded to a 20 minute red by the bunker, that would have killed Australia and New Zealand’s push for the 20 minute red to be trialled globally from July this year.
11 Go to commentsEver so often you all post a Danny Care story that isn’t the announcement that he has finally re-signed for one more, victory tour season at Quins and I’m just like, “well you fooled me again!” My absolute favorite player ever, we need to make his final year at the Stoop (and Twickers) official already. I know he supposedly snubbed France but I won’t feel better until he signs.
1 Go to commentslate hit what late hit it wasn’t at all late and can clearly see he was committed before the tackle
4 Go to commentsChristian Lio -Willies 2 try perfomance was a standout. As was captain Scott Barrett. Up front was where the boys won it.They are a great team and players. Fantastic Crusaders , you can keep going.
3 Go to commentsI don't know how the locals feel about that? I guess if you call yourselves the Worcester Wasps that might be appease. But really we need more teams in the Premiership in my view so they are not padding it out as they are at the moment. It might curtail so many players going abroad as well
5 Go to commentsNZ 😭😭😭is certainly rivaling England for best whingers cup!😭😭😭 !!!
30 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
30 Go to commentsShould've done this years ago. Change Saturday kick off times to around 11am. Up and off and back home before 3pm, limit travel time too. Allows players to actually do something else with their Saturday that's family oriented or being rugby fans they could ‘watch’ pro rugby. Increases crowds etc. How can anyone that enjoys grassroots and pro rugby have to choose between the two on Saturdays?
9 Go to commentsI bet he inspired those supporters just as much.
1 Go to commentsBen Smith Springboks living rent free in his head 😊😂
67 Go to commentsGood to hear he would like to play the game at the highest level, I hadn’t been to sure how much of a motivator that was before now. Sadly he’s probably chosen the rugby club to go to. Try not to worry about all the input about how you should play rugby Joey and just try to emulate what you do on the league field and have fun. You’ll limit your game too much (well not really because he’s a standard athlete like SBW and he’ll still have enough) if you’re trying to make sure you can recycle the ball back etc. On the other hard, you can totally just try and recycle by looking to offload any and everywhere if you’re going to ground 😋
1 Go to commentsThis just proves that theres always a stat and a metric to use to justify your abilities and your success. Ben did it last week by creating an imaginary competition and now you did the same to counter his argument and espouse a new yardstick for success. Why not just use the current one and lets say the Boks have won 4 world cups making them the most successful world cup team. Outside of the world cup the All Blacks are the most successful team winning countless rugby championships and dominating the rankings with high win percentages. Over the last 4 years statistically the Irish are the best having the highest win rate and also having positive records against every tier 1 side. The most successful Northern team in the game has been England with a world cup title and the most six nations titles in history. The AB’s are the most dominant team in history with the highest win rate and 3 world cups. Lets not try to reinvent the wheel. Just be honest about the actual stats and what each team has been good at doing and that will be enough to define their level of success.
30 Go to comments