England captain Owen Farrell, coach Kevin Sinfield chat exclusively to Sky; Farrell talks England needing to be "ready for anything" vs France at Twickenham in Six Nations on Saturday (4.45pm); Kevin Sinfield says of Marcus Smith's return: "Wonderful competition at fly-half"
Wednesday 8 March 2023 06:10, UK
Skipper Owen Farrell has told Sky Sports England must be "ready for anything" vs France in the Six Nations on Saturday, while coach Kevin Sinfield added there is "wonderful competition at fly-half" as Marcus Smith returned.
After a Round 1-defeat to Scotland at Twickenham in England's first game under the management of head coach Steve Borthwick and defence coach Sinfield, the side have since gone on to beat Italy at home and Wales in Cardiff.
Far tougher assignments await in the shape of defending Grand Slam champions France at Twickenham this weekend, before their Round 5 fixture away to unbeaten and world No 1-ranked Ireland on Saturday March 18.
But captain Farrell says the group are confident something is building.
"The main thing we've seen is that we've had progression game on game. And we feel like we're building," he told Sky Sports.
"At the moment they're [France] one of the best teams in the world. They've always been a very dangerous side.
"They can attack you in many different ways, and sting you in diffident ways.
"What's always been the case with France, but even more so over the past couple of years, is that you have to be ready for anything over 80 minutes.
"They have a few ways they can play the game, they can bring a game to life in a split second with some of their individuals, but also some of their big ball carriers that get offloads away as well.
"And they can squeeze you into corners with a long kicking game. We've got to be ready for all of that, and ready to bring our game to the table as well and have some courage to throw everything at them.
"A lot of the Six Nations tournaments go down to the final day, and we're not there yet, but it's important to get results if you want to be there at the end.
"They are the No 1 and No 2 sides [Ireland and France] in the world, and that's a massively exciting prospect for us to play against them.
"We're obviously building at the moment and trying to take another step forward this weekend. We want to show that on the field on Saturday.
"It would be brilliant to win those games, but in terms of the critics, I don't know, the most important thing for us is improving. We've been doing some good work and we feel like we're going in the right direction,
"We want to show that against two brilliant sides."
Despite Marcus Smith losing his place to Farrell at fly-half during the tournament, playing less than one minute of action in Cardiff, and being released from the squad during the fallow week - with Ford remaining to train - the Harlequins man was retained in Tuesday's updated 27-player England squad.
Indeed, Smith was retained over Ford, who has been released back to Sale Sharks.
Sinfield labelled Smith "outstanding", and says that competition for places at fly-half in the England ranks is "wonderful" at present.
"We've used the fallow week wisely, and have used it to train hard but also refresh," Sinfield told Sky Sports.
"We're really happy with where the squad's at, and looking forward to a really tough Test on Saturday.
"He [Marcus Smith] was outstanding [for Harlequins vs Exeter]. And I have to say over the last six weeks in training, he's been excellent, and we have some wonderful competition in that position in Owen [Farrell], George [Ford] and Fin Smith - who was with us earlier in the campaign.
"Those boys have been outstanding, so competitive, the standard of training has gone through the roof. So to have Marcus back and available is great.
"Whether people believe us or not, we felt it was the right thing for him to go back and play with his club to get minutes, because his time on the field has been limited over the last three weeks, and he's gone back and was great.
"Yeah massively [tough to leave Ford out]. I worked with George in my time at Leicester, and he's as good as any fly-half out there.
"He's very much in the mix. I don't think there's much between the three of them at this moment in time, but finding the right combinations for the game, understanding the threat France pose is why we've got to where we've got to.
"We'll get to see where we're at and what strides we've made vs France.
"When you come up against this type of opposition, it's a huge challenge and Test for everybody.
"An England vs France game at Twickenham is pretty special."
