‘No problem’ if England’s Owen Farrell faces father Andy Farrell at the Six Nations, says former Saracens chief

Former Saracens technical director Brendan Venter insists a potential father and son Six Nations battle between Andy and Owen Farrell is “not a problem”.

Farrell senior has been appointed as Ireland defence coach but will not be able to plot the downfall of outside-half Owen and England until next year’s competition, under the terms of his severance deal from the RFU.

Venter has worked closely with the pair — Farrell senior was head coach at Sarries while Owen established himself as a first-team player — and speaking from his home in South Africa today, he said: “England’s loss is Ireland’s gain because Andy is a hell of a good coach.

“Of course, there will be banter between Owen and his father before the Ireland game but let’s remember it is just one match in an entire season and it is not a problem.

“Andy is a brilliant father and Owen is incredibly professional. They will go about their jobs in the right way. Ireland head coach Joe Schmidt is going to be able to tap into all of Andy’s experience and it will strengthen Ireland.”

Farrell, sacked by England following the World Cup debacle that saw the team fail to get out of the pool stages, has spent the last four years helping dictate the English team’s defence and attacking strategy under former head coach Stuart Lancaster.

Now he has been given a four-year contract to become Ireland’s defence coach under Schmidt.

Farrell will not start working with Ireland until their summer tour to South Africa in June and will remain in his new role until the 2019 World Cup in Japan