It’s child’s play now for Farrell
NEW dad Owen Farrell will launch himself into the mother and father of all European showdowns today with far greater awareness of how to cope with Munster than with the demands of parenthood.
Last month, the England captain’s wife, Georgie Lyon, gave birth to a son — their first child — on the day her husband had been due to play in the Heineken Champions Cup quarter-final against Glasgow. He stayed with her at the hospital and eventually gave up on the idea of a hasty dash to Allianz Park, as the delivery took place while the match was going on.
In his absence, Saracens swept aside their Scottish rivals to earn a place in today’s semi-final at the Ricoh Arena in Coventry. Most of the squad celebrated with a short break together in St Anton, but Farrell was back at home, getting to grips with the new arrival. ‘There’s been no surprises because I didn’t have a clue in the first place!’ he said.
While Farrell is reluctant to open up about personal matters, he is evidently enjoying his new family life, adding: ‘It’s brilliant, I love it.’ What about sleep? ‘I’m good, I can’t feed him!’ he said.
‘I find it unbelievably engaging, when you are at home. People said this to me before you have children: when you are at home and you have got children it is engaging to be at home, to sit there with him — although he can’t do too much at the minute — but your mind is not wandering. Your mind is not thinking about what has happened at training, your mind is not thinking about what is going to happen the next day, so you find yourself in it a lot more.’
His family life may just provide the perspective and balance that Farrell requires during a pivotal period in his sporting life. At 27, he has inherited the Test captaincy and is seemingly on course to lead England into the World Cup later this year. Yet, the Six Nations defeat against Wales and the epic 38-38 draw with Scotland which saw England surrender a 31-0 lead prompted criticism of his leadership and an admission by Eddie Jones that as skipper, he is a work in progress.
With Saracens preparing to face Munster this afternoon, Farrell was as reluctant to discuss the Scotland game at Twickenham as he was to talk about fatherhood, but he did touch on the awkward subject.
‘How much momentum they got was a shock to us,’ he said, in reference to how the Scots scored six unanswered tries. ‘We tried to do what we thought was right at the time, but we couldn’t get back in control of it, until the end.’
Asked if that episode would provide valuable lessons which will be relevant today, Farrell added: ‘Definitely. You have to stay in control. That’s something that is massive this weekend.’
In Coventry, amid a hostile atmosphere — with their fans emphatically out-numbered — Saracens will need the familiar version of Farrell who retains composure and control and authority. They will need the assured playmaker who has all the answers in every conceivable situation, not the hurried, flustered version who lost his way when pressure was applied by Wales and Scotland.
‘Obviously you learn from every experience that you are thrown into and I learned a lot throughout that Six Nations,’ said Farrell.
He knows what’s coming and he is adamant that he and Saracens can handle both; the opposition and the grand occasion. ‘Munster are a team that fight for everything, they are a team that love playing on the big European nights and afternoons and this is one of them, so it is going to be tough,’ said Farrell. ‘You don’t get much bigger than European semi-finals against a club like Munster and as much as they love playing in these big games, we do too.’
He has a point. Two years ago, Saracens stormed to a 26-10 victory over Munster in Dublin at the same stage of this tournament on the way to winning the title for the second successive year. The English champions have appeared in three of the last five Champions Cup finals. Farrell may not have known what to expect from parenthood, but he knows exactly what to expect from the visitors. If he stays in control, Saracens will hard to beat.