Farrell is refusing to take his England place for granted as Joseph dropped for Italy match

Farrell will reach the milestone in Sunday’s RBS 6 Nations clash with Italy at Twickenham when he could be moved to fly-half as part of a rejigged midfield including Ben Te’o and Elliot Daly.

As the heartbeat of Eddie Jones’s England side, the architect of Daly’s match-winning try against Wales 11 days ago is the player they can least afford to lose, with forwards coach Steve Borthwick noting that his team-mates improve through his presence alone.

Yet Farrell still refuses to view his selection against Italy as the certainty it is, fearing it might lead to a fall in the standards that have secured the Grand Slam champions 16 successive victories.

“I don’t think you ever feel comfortable and I don’t think that anyone here would tell you that they feel comfortable,” Farrell said.

“And that’s the way it should be, because there has to be a drive to constantly improve.

“I’ve not thought about winning the 50th cap too much. I need to get picked first and have a good week.

“The thing here is that it’s all about getting better and I go on about it, but that’s all I concentrate on.”

Farrell made his debut against Scotland four years ago and in the intervening years he has developed into a more rounded player, adding vision and a great range of passing skills to the kicking, defence and competitive hunger that have always been his calling cards.

“I hope I have improved a lot and have come a long way since my debut. It was all right – there were quite a few new caps at the same time as me so there were a few of us in the same position,” he said.

“Of course I was nervous. You probably build it up into something that it is not. It is another game, but you are going into the unknown.”

England will field a new-look centre partnership against Italy after dropping Jonathan Joseph.

Joseph is omitted from the 24-man squad retained to continue preparations for the next phase of the Grand Slam defence, denying him even a bench role against Conor O’Shea’s 
Azzurri.

It is the second time the Bath centre has been dropped by Jones, after making way for Elliot Daly in last autumn’s victory over South Africa, and it is his rival from Wasps who could also usurp him at outside centre on this occasion.

Farrell, who is set to win his 50th cap, is in contention at fly-half inside a midfield partnership that may see Ben Te’o make his first start alongside Daly.

Anthony Watson is poised to appear in an England match-day squad for the first time since the June tour to Australia after recovering from the hamstring injury he suffered last month.

England squad: Forwards (13) - J Clifford (Harlequins), D Cole (Leicester Tigers), J George (Saracens), D Hartley (Northampton Saints), J Haskell (Wasps), N Hughes (Wasps), M Itoje (Saracens), J Launchbury (Wasps), Courtney Lawes (Northampton Saints), Joe Marler (Harlequins), Kyle Sinckler (Harlequins), Mako Vunipola (Saracens), Tom Wood (Northampton Saints). Backs (11) - M Brown (Harlequins), D Care (Harlequins), E Daly (Wasps), O Farrell (Saracens), G Ford (Bath Rugby), J May (Gloucester Rugby), J Nowell (Exeter Chiefs), H Slade (Exeter Chiefs), B Te’o (Worcester Warriors), A Watson (Bath Rugby), B Youngs (Leicester Tigers).