Why isn't Owen Farrell playing for England against South Africa in Autumn Internationals rugby and when will he return?

ENGLAND are out for revenge as they host world champions South Africa at Twickenham in their final Autumn International.

Owen Farrell was captain two years ago when the Springboks stunned the Red Rose to win the Rugby World Cup in Japan.

But he will play no part in this weekend's match after being ruled out of contention.

Marcus Smith continues at number ten while Manu Tuilagi will slot in and take Farrell's place at number twelve.

Courtney Lawes captains the team for the second time, after taking the armband against Tonga.

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Why is Owen Farrell not playing for England?

Owen Farrell has been ruled out after picking up an ankle injury in the win over Australia.

Two weeks earlier, Farrell also missed England's victory over Tonga due to a false positive Covid test, which is unrelated to this injury.

Farrell's Saracens and England team-mate Jamie George will also miss this match.

The hooker is out for around ten weeks with a knee injury.

When will Owen Farrell return?

Owen Farrell is expected to be out for ten to twelve weeks as he undergoes surgery on his injury.

That means he also faces a race to be fit for the start of the Six Nations.

England commence their Six Nations away to Scotland at Murrayfield on February 5.

Ahead of the South Africa match, Eddie Jones said: “This is our biggest game of the season and the final game of the autumn campaign and we want to finish with a bang.

“We’ve been really pleased with the preparation this week and how the team has continued to develop over the past month.

"Now we want to put on our best performance this autumn in front of a capacity 82,000 crowd at Twickenham.”

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