- England head coach to relegate fly-half to bench after poor form
- Ellis Genge set to captain the side for crunch Six Nations clash
Owen Farrell is set to be dropped by England for the first time since he was benched at the 2015 World Cup with Marcus Smith expected to win the battle for the No 10 jersey in Saturday’s crunch fixture against France.
In what would be the biggest call of his tenure to date, Steve Borthwick is ready to relegate Farrell to the bench and hand Ellis Genge the captaincy for the first time. Farrell has struggled for form of late – he has turned to Jonny Wilkinson for assistance with his goal-kicking – and with Borthwick seeking a more expansive approach, Smith is set to be given licence to run the show in what is expected to be the only change to the starting XV.
Written by Gerard Meagher
This news first appeared on https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2023/mar/08/steve-borthwick-to-drop-owen-farrell-and-play-marcus-smith-against-france under the title “Steve Borthwick to drop Owen Farrell and play Marcus Smith against France”. Bolchha Nepal is not responsible or affiliated towards the opinion expressed in this news article.
