Wiganer Owen Farrell to lead out England

Dylan Hartley has been ruled out with a calf injury, the Rugby Football Union has announced, so former Wigan St Patrick’s RL junior Farrell will replace him as captain.

Hartley has been ever-present under head coach Eddie Jones, starting all but one of his 26 Tests in charge and always acting as skipper.

“Owen will be very proud to be captain but at the same time he’s disappointed for Dylan to miss out through injury. He knows the position of captain carries a lot of responsibility,” Jones said.

“We need to make sure we have one strong voice among the forward leaders and Mako has been doing some great work behind the scenes. He will step up and take that on officially against France.”