Six Nations 2021: Owen Farrell says burden of fly-half duties did not affect him against Scotland
- Published
Owen Farrell captained England for the first time in March 2018
Guinness Six Nations - England v Italy |
|---|
Venue: Twickenham Stadium Date: Saturday, 13 February Kick-off: 14:15 GMT |
Coverage: Listen to commentary on BBC Radio 5 Live Sports Extra; live text commentary and post-match video highlights on the BBC Sport website and app. |
England captain Owen Farrell has rejected suggestions a lack of game-time and the burden of fly-half duties affected him in the loss to Scotland.
The 29-year-old returns to centre for Saturday's game against Italy.
Farrell - who had previously not played since December - also took on his usual goal-kicking role in the unexpected Six Nations defeat last weekend.
But when asked if he had too much responsibility, the England captain said he "did not feel like that".
The move makes way for George Ford to come in at fly-half, with Henry Slade playing at outside centre and Ollie Lawrence dropped from the matchday 23.
Saracens are awaiting the start of the Championship season so, until the Scotland game, Farrell had not played since England's Autumn Nations Cup win in December.
Farrell said his part in Saturday's loss was not because of a lack of game-time and praised the support he had had from team-mates in his leadership role.
"The best thing about this team is everybody is a big leader," he told BBC Sport.
"Everybody leads in their own type of way. Not just the senior players. They've done a fantastic job of that this week."
Farrell has played centre 40 times since Eddie Jones became England head coach in 2015 and has run out at fly-half 17 times during that period.
Jones defended his captain after a lacklustre performance against Scotland, saying on Tuesday that he had no intention of dropping him off the back of one game.
The Australian has brought Ford back into the starting XV at 10 as England look to ignite their attack against Italy but Farrell played down the significance of the switch.
"I've built up relationships here for a long time," he said.
"George coming in at 10, who I know very well, feels pretty seamless. I'm still trying to do a similar job, it doesn't really matter where."