Owen Farrell delighted to get to work with Marcus Smith as new star ‘oozes rugby’ ahead of England Tests

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Will Macpherson26 October 2021

Owen Farrell says a passion for rugby “oozes out of” Marcus Smith, with whom he is set to line up alongside for England for the first time this autumn.

Farrell, the England captain, was full of praise for Smith, who joined him on the British and Irish Lions tour of South Africa this summer having won his first two international caps.

While the two have never played together for England, Smith has been around Eddie Jones’ camps on occasions in recent years, and even roomed with Farrell.

The pair could find themselves lining up at fly-half and inside centre this autumn, or working together as starter and finisher in Tests against Tonga, Australia and South Africa.

“He's obviously a massive talent and a very exciting player,” said Farrell. “We have worked together before, he has been in camps before, when he was a bit younger. I shared a room with him in the past and it was good to get to know him a bit better over the summer.

“He is a brilliant lad and he's not just a very talented player, but a proper student of the game. That sounds a bit cliche, but he is really bothered about getting better and understanding the game a bit more and he loves chatting about rugby. So that made it easy for me to get on with him!

“He seems like he is confident, because for me, he's done the work. He understands the game and knows exactly what he wants to get out of it. He speaks sense and that helps your confidence and helps when it comes to playing in the position that he does.”

Farrell says Smith’s passion for the game is obvious.

Harlequins v Bath Rugby - Gallagher Premiership - Twickenham Stoop
PA

“Yeah, it's his passion for the game, it oozes out of him,” he said. “When he scores at the weekend, he loves scoring, he loves doing well for his team, he's obviously really enjoying playing at the minute. He wears his heart on his sleeve, that's a massive asset, the immense passion he's got for the game.”

Jones said recently that Farrell, who did not start any of the three Lions Tests, had not been at his best this year – an assessment the England captain agreed with.

“I’d agree with him,” he said. “I could have played better. I’d agree there's parts of my game that I want to get back to and do more of.

“I could have played better. I’d agree there's parts of my game that I want to get back to and do more of.

“I came back this summer and couldn't wait to get stuck into the games that were in front of us, couldn’t get wait to get back to playing for the club, couldn’t wait to enjoy being out there on the field again.

“That's where I’m at at the minute. I'm excited to see what's in front of us with this England team now.”

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