Farrell’s giving up captaincy
OWEN FARRELL is ready to hand back the England captaincy to Dylan Hartley – but refuses to surrender to player burn-out ahead of rugby’s longest year.
The Saracens man stood in for Hartley as Test skipper on the summer trip to South Africa that England lost 2-1.
A natural-born leader, Farrell calls the shots from 10 or 12 for England – whether he is captain or not – and will welcome Hartley back into the fold during the autumn.
Hooker Hartley missed five months of rugby with concussion, but trained with England in Teddington and Farrell is set for the Grand Slam-winning captain back.
Farrell said: “Dylan is a brilliant captain. He has done an unbelievable job over the last three years, he has the highest win percentage out of anyone and he does so much work, not just on the field but off the field as well. I’ve seen it first-hand, so I can only speak highly of him.
“I enjoyed the tour, the lads were brilliant. It didn’t go the way we wanted it to results-wise, but we learned a lot coming into the autumn, so we’ll have to make sure it’s a good lesson for us.”
The Premiership kicks off next weekend, heralding the start of a rugby marathon for England stars like Farrell, leading up to the World Cup in Japan and beyond.
After the World Cup, Farrell, 26, will face another brutal domestic and European campaign, plus Six Nations duty, before putting his feet up in 2020.
But he insists he will not be falling in a heap, despite the high attrition rate, and is backing Sarries and England medics to keep him fresh.
He added: “The club are brilliant at looking after us and England the same, so you put huge trust in those guys.”
Premiership opening fixtures: Friday, Bristol v Bath, 7.45pm (BT Sport); Saturday, Gloucester v Northampton, 2pm (BT Sport), Harlequins v Sale, 3pm, Worcester v Wasps, 3pm, Exeter v Leicester, 4.30pm (BT Sport); Sunday, Newcastle v Saracens, 3pm (BT Sport)