Andy Farrell: Says England are feared

Andy Farrell has insisted England are developing into one of the most feared defensive sides in world rugby.

England missed 21 tackles in the win against France, but Farrell is not concerned with those bald statistics from the 23-13 RBS 6 Nations victory, arguing that some missed tackles should be seen as a natural consequence of the high-pressure defensive system England use to rattle the opposition.

Courtney Lawes was identified as a case in point. Lawes was criticised for the number of tackles he missed against France, including one in the build-up to Wesley Fofana's try.

Farrell acknowledged the miss on Fofana was a mistake but Lawes' main job was to instil fear and doubt in the minds of the French. The intent was almost more important than the execution.

And when Italy arrive at Twickenham on Sunday, Farrell vowed that Grand Slam-chasing England will be ready to send them into some very dark places.

"Everyone goes off the missed tackle statistics. I look at it differently," Farrell said.

"I wouldn't want us to be a passive defensive side that back off and doesn't put pressure on the opposition. If you do that, there will be misses here and there.

"There is a difference between a glaring one-on-one missed tackle when you are isolated (like Lawes' on Fofana) and the team going, 'Let's go and get them'.

"If somebody like Courtney gets off the line and puts the fear of whatever into somebody's mind, the next time that guy is taking the ball up he is not thinking pretty thoughts.

"He is thinking, 'S***, where is Courtney Lawes?'.

"We are a side that likes to force errors on the opposition and make sure they realise it will be a physical, hard game. It is definitely part of our mantra. That is why we are hard to play against.

"We want to have a reputation that we are a force to be reckoned with as far as defence is concerned."

Asked whether England are building a defence that strikes fear in their opponents, Farrell added: "If you ask most teams we have played against so far, they would back that up."

Farrell has no concerns that England's defence, which has yielded just three tries so far this championship, will be as firm as ever without his son at fly-half.

Toby Flood is set to start against Italy in place of the injured Owen Farrell, who is England's best defensive fly-half since Jonny Wilkinson.

"A lot goes down that fly-half channel. Toby has been dealing with that all his life. He is definitely very comfortable in that area," Farrell said.

Flood is the most experienced member of the England squad, with 55 caps, and he comes into a side that is building a strong reputation for being able to deal with whatever is thrown at them.

England opened their championship by running Scotland off the park at Twickenham before relying on their defence and game management to grind out a win against Ireland in the Dublin rain.

Against France, England's set-piece was poor and they had to battle to stay in the game before eventually taking control of a brutally physical contest.

"Building a reputation is massively important," Farrell said.

"Teams can already see the difference in what we are trying to do.

"There will be other implications we need to be mindful of along the way. No defensive system is unbreakable.

"Teams will play against us in a variety of ways and we have to be good enough to deal with all types of scenarios."