It is a damning indictment of England’s inability to find their attacking stride throughout this Six Nations that one of the players who emerges in credit never took to the field. For, in a strange way, this has been a good tournament for Owen Farrell. Certainly Manu Tuilagi’s importance to England has been magnified by his absence, their reliance on him laid bare, but Farrell’s return to the fold is likely at the first available opportunity given the problems Eddie Jones’s side have encountered.
It was a similar story against France. Ellis Genge’s running from deep and Freddie Steward’s aerial prowess were strong points but from early on in the contest it was apparent England were swimming against the tide. Steward managed to finish off a period of pressure for England’s eighth try of the tournament – or third in matches not including Italy – and one of those, against Wales, should arguably not have counted.
