England fly-half Owen Farrell has insisted that his friendship with teammate George Ford has not been affected in the run-up to Saturday's Rugby World Cup showdown with Wales.
England coach Stuart Lancaster yesterday made the surprise decision to drop Ford and pick Farrell at number-10 for the Pool A clash at Twickenham.
Ford was "devastated and gutted" by his relegation to the bench, according to his father Mike, but Farrell insists that nothing has changed between the two.
"We have been exactly the same. Absolutely normal," Farrell told reporters. "We talk about everything anyway, it's pretty open between us.
"It's exactly the same as it was last week, as it was in the autumn when he got picked and I went on the bench. Exactly the same.
"We've played with each other since we went to school together at 13 or 14 and then played for England at Under-16, 18 and 20 levels. We are just open with each other."
Ford's omission was one of three changes made by Lancaster, with Sam Burgess and Billy Vunipola also coming in.
Pascal Lemesre
