Owen Farrell in doubt Six Nations opener

Eddie Jones will be sweating over the fitness of England captain and centre Owen Farrell ahead of the Six Nations opener at Murrayfield.

Farrell had returned to training following an ankle injury he suffered in the Autumn Nations Series loss to Australia lost November. However, he has suffered an injury setback in training this week. 

Saracens confirmed the news on Friday stating that the experienced playmaker has been ruled out of the Challenge Cup clash against London Irish this weekend.

The club did not reveal the extent of the injury but did state they will release a further update after he sees a specialist early next week.

Eddie Jones was set to play Farrell alongside Marcus Smith in the starting XV against Scotland. 

“At the moment he’s the right guy for the job,” Jones said of Farrell’s captaincy selection to BBC Sport.

“You talk about Marcus Smith, Owen’s going to be an important player for Marcus. Marcus could be an absolutely brilliant 10 so he needs to have a 12 next to him that can run the game for him and that’s where Owen is so good.”