Owen Farrell to captain England against France as Dylan Hartley misses out with injury
Hartley failed to prove his fitness after being confirmed as a doubt earlier in the week
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Your support makes all the difference.Owen Farrell will captain England in their crucial Six Nations game against France in Paris on Saturday after regular skipper Dylan Hartley was ruled out.
Hartley was confirmed as a doubt earlier in the week after picking up a leg injury in training and was being monitored daily but was unable to recover in time for the team announcement on Thursday.
The 31-year-old has been a near ever-present under Eddie Jones, starting 25 of his 26 Tests in charge, but British and Irish Lions hooker Jamie George will now take his place in the front row at the Stade de France.
As a result, vice-captain Farrell leads out the Red Rose with prop Mako Vunipola acting as his deputy.
“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.”
Mike Brown is dropped at full-back as Jones opts to move away from one of his most trusted colonels in favour of Anthony Watson, who shifts across to allow the fit-again Elliot Daly to resume his role on the wing.
Jonathan Joseph drops to the bench with Ben Te'o preferred at outside centre, while James Haskell is back amongst the replacements, alongside Kyle Sinckler and Sam Simmonds.
Engand team to face France: Watson, May, Te'o, Farrell (captain), Daly, Ford, Care, Hughes, Robshaw, Lawes, Itoje, Launchbury, Cole, George, Vunipola.
Replacements: Cowan-Dickie, Marler, Sinckler, Haskell, Simmonds, Wigglesworth, Joseph, Brown.
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