Farrell Set to Face Boks After Barkley Ruled Out

Andy Farrell is likely to be named in England's team to face South Africa on Friday after Olly Barkley was definitively ruled out with a hip flexor strain.

Coach Brian Ashton had hoped that, given a night's rest, Barkley might show signs of recovering from the injury he sustained in training yesterday; however he has made no improvement and Ashton has been forced to accept he won't be ready to face the Springboks.

With Jonny Wilkson also unfit, England have a tough decision to make: to shift Mike Catt into No10 and deploy Farrell at centre, or to risk Farrell at fly-half. The latter would be a high-risk move - after all, Farrell has never played at fly-half in international rugby, but Wasps coach and Guardian columnist Shaun Edwards says Farrell should be given a chance.

"I strongly believe his best position is number 10 in rugby union," he said. "Even though he hasn't played there a great deal, he played first receiver a lot in rugby league."