Owen Farrell could miss all three autumn internationals as Eddie Jones considers resting England stars again

Both Farrell and Maro Itoje were left out of the win over Argentina and the England head coach has revealed a 'three-game selection' that could see the fly-half remain as waterboy

Owen Farrell and Maro Itoje could miss the remaining two autumn internationals for England, including this weekend’s crunch clash with rivals Australia, after Eddie Jones devised a pre-planned schedule for his players in order to manage their fitness levels between now and the 2019 Rugby World Cup.

As part of that management, Harlequins prop Joe Marler rejoined the squad on Sunday after his three-week ban expired to bolster England’s front-row options while wing Jonny May is back in contention following his hamstring injury and centre Ben Te'o will train with the camp until Wednesday as he comes back from an ankle injury, but there is the very real prospect of neither Farrell or Itoje playing any part in the three November Tests.

The two sat out Saturday’s 21-8 victory over Argentina, with Farrell running waterboy duties and Itoje going through the pre-match warm-up as if he was playing, but speaking after the frustrating display at Twickenham, Jones admitted that Farrell may not return for next weekend’s clash with the Wallabies or the game against Samoa the week after.

“We’ve planned a three-game selection,” Jones said. “There’s always one or two you look and re-look at. We had a team plan for this week which we changed slightly after the Wales training session so one or two positions can change, but we have a pretty good idea of how we want to play and who we want to play against Australia.”

Jones left the Saracens pair out of the squad that saw off the Pumas due to his fears over their conditioning, with both featuring on the British and Irish Lions tour of New Zealand in the summer and making swift returns to domestic duties with their club. Other who featured on that tour, such as Anthony Watson and Mako Vunipola, have faced similar workloads and could yet be rested over the next two weeks, but bot Farrell and Itoje are hugely important to England’s chances at Japan 2019 and as a result, Jones is already monitoring their fitness as he sees fit – no matter how frustrated that makes them.

“That’s my decision. I’ll decide that when I am ready,” he said of their eventual return. “I’ve said this a number of times. We are trying to win the World Cup in 2019 so everything we do now is about trying to win the World Cup, so the way we manage the player is with that in mind – for them to be at their best by 2 November 2019.

“We’re looking at those players. Some players need to get more work at other things. At this stage, that’s the case with those two and we’ll continue doing that until we think they need to play.”

Farrell had to make do with waterboy duties when England played Argentina (Getty)

Their omission enabled the likes of Henry Slade and Sam Underhill to stake their claims for a place not only in the 2019 World Cup squad, but in the starting XV that Jones will pencil down for the start of that tournament. While Underhill enjoyed an emphatic first performance at Twickenham – having only made his debut for the national team in Argentina in the summer – Slade did not have his best day on the hallowed turf, returning for the first time since helping Exeter Chiefs win the Premiership there last May.

“There were frustrating parts,” Slade said. “We created a few opportunities and didn't quite take them. I found it hard to get myself into the game early on.

“As a squad it was probably a frustrating game. We didn't get that many phases together or put our attack on them but we'll take the win. It's nice to get a start and hopefully I can push forward and do the same next week.”

Eddie Jones could keep Owen Farrell and Maro Itoje out of his side for the Test with Australia (Getty)

Slade was guilty of throwing a forward pass to Nathan Hughes when the No 8 was in space out wide and also put in a couple of kicks up-field when holding on to possession would’ve been helpful for an England side that was struggling to get its hands on the ball.

However, he did give the pass to Semesa Rokoduguni that produced England’s second try to all but seal the victory, although he did admit to a few nerves as referee Marius van der Westhuizen reviewed the play given that the final delivery looked a shade forwards.

“At the time I was a little bit worried but when I saw the replay it looked flat so I was fine with that,” he added. “I was more frustrated with a couple of other balls which went astray but it happens, doesn't it?”

Henry Slade endured a difficult time at 12 against Argentina (Getty)

There were times when Slade looked to be naturally reverting into the No 13 role that he more often than not plays at Exeter, but Jones is on the lookout for a third option at inside centre and he still wants to see if the Plymouth native is that man.

“Selection is a moveable feast. It changes dependent on your needs,” Jones said of Slade. “But certainly he’s a good player. I’m happy he’s had that opportunity at 12.

“It was probably a difficult game for him to play because we didn’t get quick ball and if you don’t get quick ball it is hard for a 12 to play well with defences these days, so it was a difficult game for him but certainly there was enough there to say he could be an option for us.”