Six Nations
Farrell eyes future England role
ESPNscrum Staff
March 16, 2012
England assistant coach Andy Farrell, England training session, Winston Churchill School, Woking, England, February 9, 2012
Andy Farrell has established himself as a key part of the England set-up during the Six Nations © Getty Images
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England assistant coach Andy Farrell has admitted that he would be keen on a role within the international set-up in the future.

Farrell was seconded from his role as Saracens head coach to join Stuart Lancaster's interim England management team for the duration of the championship. England tackle Ireland at Twickenham tomorrow in their final fixture having won three out of four games and Farrell has played a key role in transforming the fortunes of the national team.

Lancaster has applied for the full-time job of leading England into the 2015 World Cup on home soil and, if successful, he would want to keep his management team in place. Farrell's ambition is to coach England at a Rugby World Cup - but he still has two years remaining on his contract with Saracens.

"The first thought of being asked to do the job was that I wanted to do it to get back into the England set-up and come away with some good memories," Farrell said. "Everybody has enjoyed it and everybody would like a piece of this experience and we will all take massive memories away from what's been a fantastic time together.

"What goes on in the future will sort itself out. I think as a coach the World Cup is what you would always aspire to, to be involved in an England side in a World Cup.

"When that time is, who knows? That could be way further down the track. I enjoy my job at Saracens and I'm contracted to them for the next two years. We go home on Sunday and I'm looking forward to going back to work with Saracens on Monday."

Saracens have already indicated they would not be prepared to loan Farrell back to England again and Twickenham regulations prevent a permanent job share. Kyran Bracken, the former England scrum-half, today urged the Rugby Football Union to buy Farrell out of his Saracens contract and tie him to the national team on a full-time basis.

The RFU are thought to be weighing up Lancaster's bid for the full-time job, which was strengthened by England's 24-22 victory over France, with that of the more experienced Nick Mallett. England captain Chris Robshaw, who has previously endorsed Lancaster's bid, said: "We've got a great group around us and a great squad and hopefully if we stick together we can keep taking this English team forward."

England have beaten Ireland just once in their last eight Six Nations meetings and Declan Kidney's men could easily have been going for a Grand Slam this weekend. Ireland were denied a victory over Wales by a controversial late penalty and they were furious after letting slip a 17-6 lead against France.

Eight of Ireland's starting line-up have never lost a Championship match to England and Lancaster warned his men they need to improve on last weekend's victory over France. "We recognise we're going to have to lift our performance by 10%," Lancaster said. "Part of our development as a side is to be really tough on ourselves. I think we're definitely heading in the right direction but there are a raft of things we could do better. The day you stop learning is the day you stop moving forward as a group.

"There is no feeling of the job being done because we have three wins. We are heading in the right direction and you can tell from the body language and demeanor of the players that they will give their all for the team tomorrow."

For England to wrestle the title away from Cardiff, Lancaster's men must put Ireland to the sword and hope France wreck Wales' Grand Slam party with a comprehensive victory at the Millennium Stadium. England have made one change from their victory in Paris, with David Strettle returning on the wing in place Charlie Sharples after recovering from a chest injury.

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