Six Nations 2019: England's Owen Farrell expects to be fit to face Ireland

Owen Farrell
Fly-half Farrell has 65 caps for England
Six Nations 2019: Ireland v England
Venue: Aviva Stadium, Dublin Date: Saturday 2 February Kick-off: 16:45 BST
Coverage: Live on BBC Radio 5 live, highlights on BBC

England captain Owen Farrell says he expects to be fit to face Ireland in his team's Six Nations opener on Saturday, 2 February.

The 27-year-old had an operation to repair a thumb tendon at the weekend and Saracens boss Mark McCall said the recovery period was seven to 10 days.

"I'm confident, yes," said Farrell when asked if he expected to play against Ireland at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin.

"The hand is good. I should be training towards the end of this week."

England head coach Eddie Jones has not called up another fly-half as precautionary cover for Farrell, with George Ford the only other number 10 in the 36-man group.

"I'm confident Owen's going to play and we've got George there so we're well stocked for number 10s at the moment," said Jones.

"The one thing consistent about international rugby is the inconsistency of your squad. You work out how you're going to play, who's going to play and then you take it from there."

Ireland achieved the Grand Slam in winning the 2018 Six Nations, while England struggled as they finished fifth.

England's Six Nations fixtures
Saturday, 2 Februaryv Ireland (a)
Sunday, 10 Februaryv France (h)
Saturday, 23 Februaryv Wales (a)
Saturday, 9 Marchv Italy (h)
Saturday, 16 Marchv Scotland (h)

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