Saracens relegation won't affect my Six Nations performance, England captain Owen Farrell says
Video report by ITV News Sports Editor Steve Scott
England captain Owen Farrell said his uncertain future with club side Saracens won't impact on his performances on the pitch ahead of the Six Nations.
Saracens have been relegated from the Premiership after being found guilty of breaking the £7m salary cap rules.
The fly-half has been at Saracens since the age of 17 and has been an integral part of the club's success.
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In the past few years, Farrell has helped the club win four Premiership titles in the last five years, as well as three European Cup wins in the past four years.
But Farrell, now 28, refused to rule out a move away from his boyhood club.
In a sit-down interview with ITV News Sports Editor Steve Scott, Farrell:
Said he would be "open and honest" with his England teammates about the situation at Saracens
Refused to say whether he'd apologise to England teammates for what happened with his club side
Said he was "unbelievably excited" to prepare for the Six Nations with England
Farrell said: "I'm unbelievably excited to get going, to get together and meet up with the lads and start preparing for what's in front of us and see where we can take this."
He added: "We've had chats about what we're going to do going forward but nothing's been set in stone and obviously there's a few moving parts to that."
Pressed by Steve Scott about whether he'd like to remain at the London-based club, he added: "It's not something that's sorted so I'm not going to speculate."
Head coach Eddie Jones has selected seven Saracens players for his Six Nations squad, but told ITV News the club's "issue" offers England "an opportunity to get better".
Jones said he would hold clear-the-air talks with the England camp meet up, where they will discuss Saracens and its future.
He added the punishment Saracens face could help "get the squad even tighter".
"If there are any problems related to the Saracens issue, get it out on the table.
"Talk about it, work out a solution"
Farrell said it was "necessary to speak about it" and that he wanted to be "open and honest" about what has happened with Saracens.
However Farrell stopped short of saying he would apologise for the club's actions to his England teammates, saying: "We'll meet up and we'll see where everyone's at. I can't guess where's everyone's at."
Farrell urged the club's fans to continue supporting their team through the tough times, as they prepare for life in the lower echelons of Rugby Union's lower leagues.
"It's disappointing the situation we've found ourselves in," he said. "It's disappointing for everyone involved. What I would say is I know the club's strong and it'll be back."
Also on Wednesday, Saracens said they would be "keen" for the disciplinary report into their salary cap breaches to be published in full.
They had initially objected to the full publication of Lord Dyson's report into the breaches.
A Premiership Rugby spokesperson said preparations would now begin to release the decision document.
"Premiership Rugby welcomes Saracens' decision to withdraw its previous objection to publication of Lord Dyson's decision," the spokesperson said.
"These objections were stated in the strongest terms and in writing on behalf of the club by its lawyers.
"We believe that publication of the decision in respect of Saracens' past breaches of the salary cap is an important step towards upholding trust in our enforcement of the regulations and the disciplinary process.
"We will now begin preparations for release of the decision. Further details will be provided in the coming days."
England kick-off their Six Nations campaign against France on February 2, hoping that winning the tournament may help heal some of the scars from their bruising World Cup final loss against South Africa.