George Ford set to replace Owen Farrell in England's Six Nations squad

2 years ago 42

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George Ford is set to win a recall to England's Six Nations squad to replace injured captain Owen Farrell.

With Farrell out of the opener against Scotland, head coach Eddie Jones will turn to Ford after leaving him out of the initial 36-man squad.

Despite his outstanding club form, 77-cap Ford has been overlooked since the autumn with Marcus Smith starring at number 10.

England will confirm their squad changes on Monday afternoon.

Flanker Courtney Lawes is favourite to skipper the side in Farrell's absence, with the extent of Farrell's injury still unclear.

Saracens director of rugby Mark McCall confirmed on Sunday that Farrell would at miss at least the first part of the Championship after turning an ankle in club training in midweek. The 30-year-old is set to see a specialist on Monday.

Farrell's ankle problem is separate to the one he picked up against Australia in November, an issue that ruled him out for the last two months.

As he outlined on the BBC Rugby Union Weekly podcast, Jones had planned to pitch Smith and Farrell together in the England midfield, but he will now be forced to reassess, with Mark Atkinson, Henry Slade, Joe Marchant and rookie Luke Northmore all centre options.

With Bath's uncapped Orlando Bailey the only other specialist stand-off in the squad, Ford, 28, is likely to find himself immediately back in the matchday 23, although Smith is still expected to retain the starting jersey.

England meet in Brighton this week for a training camp before ramping up preparations for the Calcutta Cup showdown at Murrayfield.