Six Nations 2023: England's Owen Farrell dropped as Marcus Smith comes in to face France

Seven years Owen Farrell's junior, Marcus Smith (right) has won 20 caps for England

England captain Owen Farrell has been replaced by Marcus Smith at fly-half for Saturday's Six Nations match against France at Twickenham.

Smith has been handed the responsibility for running the side after being a sparsely used replacement against Italy and Wales.

It is the most significant selection call of head coach Steve Borthwick's tenure.

Prop Ellis Genge will take over as captain.

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Ellis will lead with 'dedication and spirit'

"The players selected to face our visitors are again a reflection of what I see to be the right balance of personnel for the challenge we face in this game," said Borthwick.

"Owen Farrell will start the game on the bench and when he comes on, he will captain the team.

"I think it's a fantastic position to be in that I have such great fly-halves. For this game, it's the right decision to start Marcus and have Owen on the field at the end of the game.

"Owen has been brilliant - as he always is. He leads this team fantastically well, whatever role he is playing.

"Ellis Genge is a natural leader and he is someone people follow. Ellis will lead from the front with the sort of dedication and spirit that now rightly typifies this England team."

Teams

England: Steward; Malins, Slade, Lawrence, Watson; Smith, Van Poortvliet; Genge (capt), George, Sinckler; Itoje, Chessum; Ludlam, Willis, Dombrandt.

Replacements: Walker, M Vunipola, Cole, Ribbans, B Curry, Mitchell, Farrell, Arundell.

France: Ramos; Penaud, Fickou, Danty, Dumortier; Ntamack, Dupont (capt); Baille, Marchand, Aldegheri, Flament, Willemse, Cros, Ollivon, Alldritt.

Replacements: Mauvaka, Wardi, Falatea, Taofifenua, Macalou, Lucu, Moefana, Jaminet.

Three times a British and Irish Lion and capped 104 times by England, Farrell was last left out of a full-strength England side at the start of the 2015 World Cup.

Since then he has been an ever-present, either at fly-half or centre, captaining the side since the South Africa tour in 2018.

While his form in an England shirt has been inconsistent over the past few seasons, Borthwick gave the Saracens talisman his full backing in January when naming him captain for the Six Nations campaign.

Farrell started the tournament at inside centre against Scotland, with Smith at fly-half, before reverting to the number 10 shirt for the wins against Italy and Wales.

Replacement Smith only featured for a handful of minutes against Italy and a matter of seconds in Cardiff, and when Borthwick sent him back to his club Harlequins during the fallow week it suggested he had fallen down the pecking order, especially given the return to fitness of George Ford.

But after playing a starring role in Harlequins' victory over Exeter, Smith has made a sensational return to the starting XV and lines up alongside Ollie Lawrence and Henry Slade in arguably the biggest match of his career.

"He played really well and it seemed like he came back with a spring in his step, which is good for us," Farrell told BBC Sport on Tuesday.

Farrell's goalkicking, normally so reliable, has also been under scrutiny this season, and he missed four of his six attempts from the tee against Wales.

"It's been a focus (in training), but one that is trying to not overthink it, which probably became a bit of the problem in the first place," Farrell said.

"I don't think I've forgotten how to kick. So it's probably about trying not to think too much."

Asked about his role earlier in the week, Farrell said he was happy to do "whatever the team needs".

England must beat France to stay in the Six Nations title hunt, with the world's number one side Ireland lying in wait in Dublin on the final day.

World number two side France have made three changes to the side that beat Scotland in their last outing.

Dorian Aldegheri will face Genge in the scrum after replacing the suspended Mohamed Haouas at tighthead prop, while Francois Cros will start in stead of the injured Anthony Jelonch at six.

In the backs, Jonathan Danty will make his first start in the Six Nations at inside centre, with Yoram Moefana dropping to the bench.

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