A family affair

"I tend to pull him under my wing and give Owen feedback, but in terms of selection his dad doesn't tell him anything. I think it was me who told him he was in the England squad."
Stuart Lancaster Quotes of the week

The 20-year-old centre is one of three debutants in Stuart Lancaster's starting XV for the Calcutta Cup clash, alongside Saracens partner Brad Barritt and Phil Dowson.

Father Andy was capped eight times for the England union side and is now part of the coaching set-up, but Owen does not receive preferential treatment from the former dual-code forward.

The youngster is eagerly anticipating his debut in the cauldron of Murrayfield as Lancaster's new-look team embark on a testing Six Nations campaign.

Farrell told The Rugby Club: "It's what you put the hours in for, it's why you practice as a kid. To put on an England shirt and be kicking in front of all those people will be a dream come true.

"I've seen from my dad when I was growing up what it takes to be the kind of player he was and all the hard work he put into it - that obviously makes me want to work hard.

"I'm my own player and I've got my own things to work on, I'm just working hard to be the best player I can be.

"I'm lucky in a way because I was thrown in at the deep end, I had a few opportunities because of injuries. I learned so much from playing week-in week-out in the Premiership and having such good players around me.

"Watching people work and actually being there on the field first hand, learning what the game is all about, I kicked on from there really."

Interim head coach Lancaster hailed the working relationship between father and son, and was full of praise for a promising back who he believes has an experienced head on young shoulders.

Lancaster said: "I think they do a fantastic job between them. Andy treats him like no different a player and Owen doesn't treat his dad any differently than he would me.

"I tend to pull him under my wing and give Owen feedback, but in terms of selection his dad doesn't tell him anything. I think it was me who told him he was in the England squad.

"They are a fantastic family and in terms of bringing up a grounded young man, they should be applauded."

Farrell, Barritt and fly-half Charlie Hodgson, who will start his first Test in four years, are all Saracens team-mates and Sky Sports expert Stuart Barnes believes there are similarities between Farrell and England icon Jonny Wilkinson.

Barnes remarked: "He reminds me very much of a young Wilkinson in that he's not the quickest, but mentally and physically he's tough as teak and you back him to kick the goals. He's very exciting."