"It was brutal." - Owen Farrell on his five-month injury nightmare

England captain Owen Farrell has opened up following his successive injuries that caused him to miss the entire 2022 Six Nations.

“It was brutal,” said Farrell. “Brutal watching, brutal trying to make yourself feel involved when you’re not really.

“I was trying to help out and stay in touch, help out in any way I could.

“As a player you don’t want to overstep the mark but there was no way I could sit there and say nothing.

Farrell's injury woes were made more challenging by the shame of relegation for multiple salary cap breaches.

“It's been a tough two and half years and it was a problem of our own making,” admitted boss Mark McCall.

“Mistakes were made. But 99 per cent of the people in the organisation weren't responsible for what happened and that's never talked about.

“Every one of them, staff and players, had a reason to leave and an excuse to go if they wanted, but none did.

“That level of loyalty probably saved the club to be honest. We saw out on the field here where that loyalty comes from, that togetherness that exists. This is a special group of players.”