How Saracens snared Samoa star
Theo Mcfarland is one of the signings of the season and the club had to dig deep to land ex-basketball international
Recruitment in any industry can become a self-fulfilling prophecy. With a strong reputation, a company will attract high-calibre candidates. In a healthy working environment, those employees should thrive and fulfil their potential.
Professional sport is no different, although clubs must be proactive as well to mine rough diamonds. Saracens’ capture of Theo Mcfarland fell into a sweet spot.
As this campaign reaches its crunch, the double Samoa international, in basketball as well as rugby union, is looking like one of the signings of the season.
It required some digging. Nick Kennedy, the club’s head of recruitment since 2018, who oversaw the London Irish academy before being promoted to director of rugby there, is a valuable figure. Saracens’ acquisition of Kennedy was canny in itself.
Anyway, back to Mcfarland. One of eight siblings, he was raised in Moamoa, a district to the south of Apia. He loved basketball and eventually represented Samoa in threeon-three and five-on-five formats.
Mcfarland, an explosive athlete standing 6ft 6in tall, played as a power forward.
Deciding that better career prospects lay elsewhere, though, Mcfarland opted for rugby union with the encouragement of Brian Lima, the renowned centre. Lima oversaw the Manuma Samoa team who entered the 2020 Global Rapid Rugby tournament. Mcfarland was picked for the opening game against South China Tigers, staged in Perth. But the 52-27 defeat would be just the beginning of Manuma Samoa’s problems.
Covid caused Global Rapid Rugby to be canned and administrative chaos stranded the squad in New Zealand for months on their return home. The pandemic also put paid to an opportunity with the Dallas Jackals in Major League Rugby. Instead, Mcfarland stayed and trained with the Samoa sevens squad.
Meanwhile, Saracens were in the market for a rangy back-five forward capable of covering lock and blindside flanker while roaming in the loose and jumping in the lineout. They had Nick Isiekwe, but Michael Rhodes was likely to leave at the end of the season. Kennedy leant on a pair of ex-exiles allies.
George Stowers had coached Mcfarland at Rugby Academy Samoa, an organisation on the island. Seilala Mapusua had become the head coach of the national set-up in 2020. Together, they recommended their man to Kennedy, who was sent footage of Mcfarland in action for Moamoa Roosters and Manuma Samoa.
Kennedy studied Mcfarland’s basketball highlights, too, having played the sport prior to his own professional career and being aware of how transferable skills could prove beneficial – especially at the line-out.
Any visa issues would have been eased if Mcfarland won Test caps for Samoa. That encouraged him to switch to concentrate on 15 a side and he promptly featured twice against the Maori All Blacks before coming off the bench in back-toback victories over Tonga, helping his nation seal qualification for the 2023 World Cup last July. Saracens were next.
Since turning 26 last October, he has shown that late developers can be quick learners. Mcfarland, listed as weighing 115kg (18st 1lb) on arrival at Saracens, has stacked on 5kg and his influence has steadily increased, culminating in a man-of-the-match performance in the thrashing of Gloucester a week ago.
A pair of one-handed line-out steals in the first half could have come from the basketball court.
Mcfarland describes Saracens as “a brotherhood”. He and his father, Steve, used to watch England matches from Samoa, so lining up alongside Maro Itoje, Owen Farrell and the Vunipola brothers, Mako and Billy, feels “unreal”.
There are easy jokes to be made about recruitment at Saracens, but there has been a tangible – and, obviously, necessary – shift of focus following the salary-cap scandal. The exits of high-profile players such as Will Skelton, Liam Williams, George Kruis and Richard Wigglesworth have shaved the wage bill.
Mcfarland has been exceptional, forcing his way into Saracens’ firstchoice side for the business end of the season. A trip to Stade Mayol for the Challenge Cup semi-final today pits him against a star-studded Toulon pack.
After his extraordinary path to this point, you sense the humble Mcfarland will take it in his stride. “I never in a million years thought I’d be in the UK playing rugby alongside world-class players and being coached by Mark Mccall,” he says.
“I’m still buzzing, but I’ve got to do my thing now – play rugby and progress.”
‘I never in a million years thought I’d be in the UK playing rugby alongside world-class players’