Barnes calls for on Eddie Jones to drop Owen Farrell

Stuart Barnes has called for Eddie Jones to drop Owen Farrell for Harlequins flyhalf Marcus Smith during the autumn internationals.

Barnes believes that going with Farrell "would be blind faith" and claimed that he may not even be the second-best No. 10 available to Eddie Jones.

Writing in his column for The Times, Barnes claimed that the Premiership winner Smith is the "logical" choice: "Smith offers the 'other' option, the one Finn Russell brought to the third [Lions] Test.

"Smith is the English Russell. Like the Scot he is not a maverick. He’s an intelligent player with razor-sharp instincts. He has been trained to see things as they unravel in front of him. The antithesis of Farrell, who has appeared the ultimate game-plan player throughout the Jones years."

"To play anyone but Smith this autumn would be to strip bare any talk of 2023 planning as empty rhetoric. Two years out from the World Cup, there is plenty of time for Farrell to reignite his case, back in the improving Premiership. But Smith has less time to grow into a Test match 10. All the evidence indicates he has the skill, nerve, wit and kicking boots to pull England from the mess of their own making."

Barnes added that the captain decision would need to be addressed immediately: "Of course, there’s also the issue of a new captain. England need one. There is one in waiting and, after a summer break from the laptop, this is the first subject to be tackled."