Owen Farrell declared fit ahead of Six Nations' game against Scotland

England international Owen Farrell has been declared fit ahead of Six Nations encounter against Scotland at BT Murrayfield Stadium as he returns to the venue where he made his international debut.

Farrell has recovered from a lower leg injury and will be part of Tuesday's training sessions that will be overseen by Stuart Pearce, Les Ferdinand, Hope Powell and Scot David Moyes.

Six years back when he played his first game for England against the same opposition, his Saracens team-mate Jamie George was present in the stands cheering for the red rose team.

Recalling the experience, George said he was pleased to see the growth of Farrell, who has gone to make 59 Test appearances including four for British and Irish Lions.

“I was at his first international appearance in 2012. I was randomly at a 21st birthday, but I was in the stadium when we won 13-6 – it was a thriller,” George said.

“That was a great experience for me, Murrayfield is an amazing stadium and a great experience to watch one of my mates get their first cap.

“We grew up together and started playing together when we were 14. We’re really good mates – I’m an usher at his wedding – but we were different when he first came down to Saracens.

“He was a big lad from Wigan and I was a posh guy from Hertford, but we soon hit it off.

“I’m very lucky to work with him day in, day out. It’s his maturity that’s the main thing that he’s worked on.

“He’d say himself that he was pretty raw when he first started international rugby but the way he’s developed as a leader and as a player…..he’s shown that he’s one of the best players in the world.

“He’s constantly evolving his game. He himself says that he’s a 10 but when he plays at 12 he picks incredible lines. It’s another string to his bow.”

Former Scotland and Saracens lock Jim Hamilton offered his own insight into Farrell in a newspaper column on Sunday, praising his ability while adding that “because he was driven purely by performance, I sometimes found him a difficult team-mate”.

However, George had a different perspective on it.

“Jim can be difficult. What Jim is probably alluding to is that Owen has very high standards,” George said.

“Jim was probably at the end of his career where he wanted a free ride but he wasn’t getting that at Saracens.”

George has played 22 Tests for England and has been among the replacement in 21 games playing a second fiddle to skipper Dylan Hartley despite the 27-year-old was the preferred hooker in the recent British and Irish Lions' tour of New Zealand.

“There may be polls on social media, but it’s more my own and the opinion of my team-mates around me that I care about. I’ve loved every minute of the campaign so far,” he said.

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