Owen Farrell says he would 'love' to help Marcus Smith develop

British and Irish Lions duo Owen Farrell and Marcus Smith are yet to play together for England

England captain Owen Farrell says he would "love" to help Marcus Smith's development as an international fly-half during the Autumn series.

"He [Smith] is someone who can unlock a game himself but he's also got a brilliant eye for how to make a team work as well," said Farrell.

"Marcus is someone who loves talking rugby."

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Smith, 22, went on to win two caps after making his debut in July, before joining 30-year-old Farrell on the British and Irish Lions tour to South Africa.

Smith has excelled at the start of this season after guiding Quins to the Premiership title last term.

With experienced fly-half George Ford not selected for the squad, head coach Eddie Jones is looking to the future and the 2023 World Cup in France, and Farrell says he is happy to play at inside centre to facilitate Smith's development at 10.

"Marcus is a massive talent and a very exciting player," said Farrell via video-link from England's training base in Jersey on Tuesday.

"He loves chatting about the game and trying to understand the game a bit better. If I can help him do that in any way possible, I'd love to.

"I shared a room with him in the past and it was good to get to know him a bit better over the summer with the Lions."

England begin their three-Test schedule at Twickenham against Tonga on 6 November, before hosting Australia and South Africa over the next two weekends.

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