Steve Borthwick to drop Owen Farrell and play Marcus Smith against France

Owen Farrell is set to be dropped by England for the first time since the 2015 World Cup with Marcus Smith expected to win the battle for the No 10 jersey in Saturday’s crunch fixture against France.

In what would be the biggest call of his tenure to date, Steve Borthwick is ready to relegate Farrell to the bench and hand Ellis Genge the captaincy for the first time.

Farrell has struggled for form of late – he has turned to Jonny Wilkinson for assistance with his goal-kicking – and with Borthwick seeking a more expansive approach, Smith is set to be given licence to run the show in what is expected to be the only change to the starting XV.

Smith was released from last week’s training camp in Brighton after featuring for just 14 seconds off the bench against Wales but he starred for Harlequins against Exeter last Saturday and is primed for a first England start since their opening Six Nations defeat by Scotland last month.

That day Farrell played at inside-centre outside him but with Ollie Lawrence and Henry Slade hitting it off in the centres, the latest indications on Wednesday were that Borthwick’s captain is set to make way against France.

Eddie Jones repeatedly insisted that the Smith-Farrell partnership would come good but after taking one look against Scotland, Borthwick appears to have abandoned it. In Farrell’s absence, Smith would have the freedom to implement his own attacking style and form a midfield trio with Lawrence and Slade seen only once before, in the victory over the USA in July 2021.

Despite Farrell’s scratchy form, it would be a huge call by Borthwick to axe his captain. It is thought Courtney Lawes would have been handed the captaincy – as he was for much of last season by Jones – but with a