The absence of Owen Farrell has been one of the defining elements of this year's Six Nations for England.
Saracens fly-half Farrell captained England in last year's tournament and at the Rugby World Cup in France.
However, the 32-year-old made a surprise announcement in the aftermath of that World Cup that he would be taking a leave of absence from international rugby to "prioritise his and his family's mental wellbeing."
This came after an intense period of scrutiny on the fly-half, mainly surrounding supposed indiscipline after his reckless challenge against Wales in a World Cup warm-up saw him suspended for England's opening two games of the tournament.
Farrell is not the only major player to have stepped away in the past year and, in his absence, England are preparing to face an Ireland side similarly devoid of their ex-captain Johnny Sexton.
Assessing the two sides ahead of Saturday's Twickenham showdown, Matt Williams went in two-footed on the English fans for the "moronic" manner in which they had forced Farrell out.
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Matt Williams rips into England fans for treatment of Owen Farrell
Appearing on The Stand with Eamon Dunphy, Williams said that the manner in which Farrell was lost to the English side was "unacceptable," contrasting it with the departure of Ireland's great fly-half Sexton:
If we compare that to England...we've lost Johnny Sexton, one of our talismanic players [to retirement]. England lost Owen Farrell in ridiculous circumstances.
He was not injured or anything, he has stepped down because he got booed during the warm up by the English fans, he got abused on social media by English fans. Yet he was one of their great players over a long period of time.
It was just appalling behaviour. Quite ignorant, moronic, unacceptable behaviour.
England have struggled to reach their expected performance levels in this tournament, with defeat to Scotland following unconvincing narrow victories over Italy and Wales on the opening two weekends. Much of this has been down to the stunted attacking play in Farrell's absence (though it was hardly firing on all cylinders last year, in fairness).
18 March 2023; Jonathan Sexton of Ireland and Owen Farrell of England during the Guinness Six Nations Rugby Championship match between Ireland and England at Aviva Stadium in Dublin. Photo by Harry Murphy/Sportsfile
Williams went on to say that he believes that the difference between how Ireland have transitioned from Sexton to Jack Crowley with ease and how England have floundered in Farrell's absence sums up the gulf between the two sides:
Since his departure, England have lost their way in attack. They haven't got that axis...they've got George Ford, he [Farrell] used to play at 12 when Ford was at 10. They've got Ollie Lawrence in there at 12, and that axis between the 10 and 12 has simply not worked since Farrell left.
That's a great contrast to what's happened for Ireland since Sexton stepped aside.
It remains unclear when Owen Farrell will return to action with England, but it surely cannot come soon enough for Steve Borthwick's side.
England face Ireland at Twickenham on Saturday afternoon, with kick-off in London at 4:45pm.
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