The Dan Carter example England believe injured Farrell can follow

Eddie Jones insists the best years could still be ahead for Owen Farrell after the England captain was ruled out of the entire Guinness Six Nations following ankle surgery. Farrell is facing eight to ten weeks of rehabilitation having just come back from ligament damage to his other ankle that forced him to miss another two months of the season.

Once he has recovered from concussion, Courtney Lawes is likely to deputise as skipper with Henry Slade favourite to start at inside centre when England launch their Six Nations against Scotland on February 5.

The fear is that an uncompromising style of play by Farrell could be starting to leave its mark on his body, but Jones insists the 30-year-old England talisman should look to New Zealand great Dan Carter for inspiration.

“Owen is one of the most resilient and driven players that I know,” said the England head coach. “He has got to take his medicine now, which is have the operation, rehab and go through all that pain. But he wants to be the best player he can be.

“He wants to captain England again, he wants to play for England again, and so he will apply himself really well to his rehab. He could come back better than ever and that is what we are anticipating. There is a lot of evidence for over-30 players where they can play their best rugby from 30 to 35.

“Look at Dan Carter, what a great example. The only World Cup he ended up playing in because of injury was at 35 and he was absolutely superb. There is no reason why Owen can’t be moving into a very important part of his career. 

“Sometimes you have got to train differently when you get to over 30. That is the communication he will need to have with the S&C coaches at his club [Saracens] and with us. But there is no reason why he can’t get better.”