England captain Owen Farrell out of Six Nations

By BEN REDWOOD

England captain Owen Farrell has been ruled out of the entire Guinness Six Nations due to an ankle injury.

Eddie Jones has confirmed today that Farrell will need surgery on an ankle that he injured in Saracens training last week.

It emerged last week that he would be out of the Six Nations opener at Murrayfield following an injury at Saracens training.

Farrell had previously been injured for over two months after an ankle injury sustained in November's victory over Australia at Twickenham.

Saracens have confirmed that Farrell will undergo surgery on Wednesday and faces eight to 10 weeks of rehabilitation.

Jones said: “Owen is out of the Six Nations. It's a massive blow for him personally and for the team it's a blow.”

“But it's obviously an opportunity for other guys to step up into leadership roles and for other players to play for that 12 jumper.

“We see it more as an opportunity. In today's rugby, having your best team on the field is a rare occurrence. We're pretty used to it. There's an opportunity there to build a bit more leadership depth.”

Farrell was set to play at inside-centre following the emergence of Marcus Smith as England's first choice fly-half.

In other injury news, Gloucester wing Jonny May looks set to miss the entire Six Nations campaign due to a knee injury.

“Jonny's more likely than not going to have some surgery, but the details on that are a bit sketchy at the moment. He's more than likely to be out of the Six Nations,” Jones said.

England's injury list is ever growing, with Farrell and May joining Anthony Watson in missing the entire campaign. It is still not known whether Courtney Lawes will be fit.

Who will captain England?

Courtney Lawes is pencilled in to replace Farrell as captain following his successful stint as skipper in the Autumn.

The British and Irish Lions flanker is currently progressing through the return-to-play protocols for concussion sustained on Northampton duty against Ulster on January 16 but should recover in time for the trip to Murrayfield.

On Lawes, Eddie Jones said: “Courtney is progressing nicely and we're still hopeful he'll be available for Scotland.”