Owen Farrell: 'All the England players were hurting after the Six Nations'

Greg Rutherford (right) poses with Owen Farrell (left). Rutherford takes on the Catch-a-Million challenge for Sport Relief at half time during Saracens v Harlequins at Wembley on March 22nd. The match kicks off at 3pm and is exclusively live on BT Sport

Owen Farrell has admitted that it was gutting for England to lose the Six Nations in the way they did to Ireland.

After putting in an impressive performance against Italy last weekend, Stuart Lancaster’s side narrowly missed out, with the retiring Brian O’ Driscoll’s Ireland winning the tournament by 10 points.

Speaking ahead of his club side Saracens record breaking game against Harlequins at Wembley on Saturday, in front of a crowd of over 80,000 fans, the England fly half spoke about the England sides’ progression over the course of the tournament and his hopes for Sarries as they enter the business end of the season.

"You play in competitions to win them and it was gutting to lose out in the way that we did, I think that what we take away from the six nations is we played better together as a team and we made big steps forward.

"When you look at the development leading up to the world cup that’s important, everyone was hurting at the weekend but as long as we made the steps forward that’s the important thing.

"I think the squad have always had that intent but I think it’s just the detail we are putting on top of things now and making sure that we are developing and getting better. I think we have done that over the curse of the six nations” he said.

The Wolf Pack take on local rivals Quins at the home of football this weekend, live on BT Sport as they look to bounce back from their convincing defeat to the Northampton Saints in their last league outing. They currently sit second in the Aviva Premiership table and are in the quarter-finals of the Heineken Cup, it is safe to say they are in the business end of the season and BT Sport ambassador Farrell believes it is important to take every game as it comes.

"We just have to take every game as it comes and put all our effort into each match and make sure we are ready. We pride ourselves in turning it on in every game we play in and we want to win every time we walk onto the field.

"The two tournaments we are still in are massive and things will start to get exciting now to the end of the season.” 

"I think we’ve always had that intent I think its just the detail we are putting on top of things now and making sure that we are developing and getting better and I think we have done that over the curse of the six nations

"I think Danny [Care] was outstanding over the Six Nations but it was a squad effort, so they should share the plaudits and everybody that has been involved in the squad and not just the team that played at the weekend has contributed to the team playing like it is and its that squad together that has helped us.

"You play in competitions to win them and it was gutting to lose out in the way that we did, I think that what we take away from the six nations is we played better together as a team and we made big steps forward and when you look at the development leading up to the world cup that’s important. Everyone was hurting at the weekend but as long as we made them steps forward that’s the important thing.

"Yeah it was horrible, Stuart [Lancaster]was quiet, their was a few opportunities a the end and that’s sport

"We just take every game as it comes and put all our effort into each game and making sure we are ready. We pride ourselves in turning it on for every game we play in and we want to win every game. The two tournaments we are still in are massive and things will start to get excited now to the end of the season, we’re in the business end.

"We just have to take every game as it comes and put all our effort into each match and make sure we are ready. We pride ourselves in turning it on in every game we play in and we want to win every time we walk onto the field.

"The two tournaments we are still in are massive and things will start to get exciting now to the end of the season."

Greg Rutherford takes on the Catch-a-Million challenge for Sport Relief at half time during Saracens v Harlequins at Wembley on March 22nd. The match kicks off at 3pm and is exclusively live on BT Sport