Six Nations 2018: Owen Farrell ready to transfer his classroom studies to the pitch when England face France

Owen Farrell has been taking an online course with Northumbria University, facilitated by the Rugby Players’ Association, in business management and leadership

Owen Farrell will lead England out in Paris (Getty)

Owen Farrell has always been known as a student of rugby and he has been preparing for the latest chapter in his international career by hitting the books and swotting up on what makes leaders tick.

Head coach Eddie Jones confirmed on Thursday that Farrell will captain England against France on Saturday in place of the injured Dylan Hartley. Hartley will be in Paris but only as an observer and someone for Farrell to lean on before the game.

Hartley’s calf injury means that the inside centre Farrell, who already takes over as skipper when the hooker is off the field, will lead England out of the tunnel at Stade de France instead of assuming responsibilities sometime in the second half of the Six Nations clash.

Farrell has been taking an online course with Northumbria University, facilitated by the Rugby Players’ Association, in business management and leadership and has to hand in a 12,000-word dissertation by the end of the summer.

England flunked their exams at Murrayfield a fortnight ago when they went down 25-13 to Scotland, derailing their Grand Slam hopes, and some of that was down to losing their heads in the face of the Scots’ first-half onslaught.

As well as the book work, Farrell has studied all the captains he has played under, taking bits from Hartley and Chris Robshaw with England, Brad Barritt and Steve Borthwick at Saracens and Sam Warburton with the British & Irish Lions.

Warburton is considered a master at chatting up referees and getting them onside, something Farrell will be trying on with Jaco Peyper this weekend but he will be leading mostly by actions, not words.

“I’ve done it before. Dylan does it very well – he is very calm,” said Farrell. “You’ve got to be very clear and I’ve worked with him so I’ll be trying to take a bit of that on.

Owen Farrell has learnt plenty playing for the Lions Getty) (Getty)

“You’d be pretty stupid not to pick up things that others do well, people you admire. You’re doing it day in, day out here, we have been here six or seven weeks and there are fantastic players can learn a lot from.

“The main thing for me as a leader anyway is that you perform well. That’s most of the battle. That you do the things you’re talking about. You see what type of player I am and you see a lot of that in leaders. Hopefully, you lead from the front and first and foremost play well.”

Jones had no hesitation in appointing Farrell as interim captain despite his role in the pre-match fracas in the tunnel ahead of the Scotland match. The Australian is also confident the 26-year-old can deliver instructions to help England get there Six Nations campaign back on track.

“Every good player just wants clear, direct messages and you are going to get that from Owen,” said Jones. “He’s a man of few words. He’s a northerner and he gets to the point. What he says, they will understand.

“He is no-nonsense and just gets on with it. He knows what he wants to do, he knows what the team needs to do and he is quite direct in communicating that. He expects high standards. He has been super-loyal to Dylan and to the team, so when Dylan was unavailable it was an easy option for me to take, because we want someone in the same mould as Dylan.”

Part of Farrell’s brief, alongside the recalled Ben Te’o, in midfield will be taking care of the 20 stone French centre and wrecking ball-in-chief Mathieu Bastareaud.

“He’s a bit of an icon player for them,” added Jones. “Read all the press – he’s been built up as the guy who’s going to regenerate French rugby. So it’s important that, early in the game, we let him know he’s going to have a tough day in the office. The other key position for any French team is the 9 (Maxime Machenaud) – he’s been playing in a dinner suit. We want to put a bit of heat on him.”