Owen Farrell will become the third England men's player to win 100 caps when he plays against New Zealand but he has given the honour scant attention in the build up and it will be the last thing on his mind on Saturday.Jason Leonard and Ben Youngs, who is on the bench at Twickenham hoping for his 120th cap, are the only others to reach the milestone.Although he is enjoying some of the best flyhalf form of his career at Saracens, Farrell will start at inside centre at Twickenham, alongside number 10 Marcus Smith.
England coach Eddie Jones used a similar set up with George Ford at flyhalf, making no apology for ensuring a player he describes as the "ultimate test match animal" gets on the pitch."If we don't have Owen then we lose a huge percentage of our fight.
He's the most energetic and one of the most committed rugby players I've ever seen," Jones said at the start of the November campaign.Farrell's nerveless goalkicking has helped him amass 1,148 international points, behind only Jonny Wilkinson and Dan Carter, and at the age of 31, he has plenty more to come.But his point-scoring prowess is only a part of the story for a player who lifts and inspires those around him and always has done since making his England debut in 2012.Former England scrumhalf Danny Care said that when he returned to the international fold he couldn't believe that the young new guy was completely bossing the show "in his own, direct Wigan way"."I think he will probably go down as one of the best players to ever play for England," Care said on the BBC's Rugby Union Daily podcast."I don't think he's appreciated like he should be.