Farrell simply out of this world, says coach
THE latest Owen Farrell masterclass had taken his goalkicking return in this series to a stunning 23 out of 26 and Eddie Jones was asked whether the Saracen was world-class in that primary aspect of his game.
For England’s head coach, the world was not enough. He raised the acclaim to the stars. ‘His kicking is solar-system-class,’ said Jones. ‘He’s an absolutely outstanding goal-kicker.’
In the search for factors behind the national team’s cleansweep success against the Wallabies, this was high on the list of the decisive ones. Almost any time Australia transgressed within range of the posts, they paid for the lapse.
Jones spread the credit to another English sharp-shooter who has known glory in this city. Jonny Wilkinson has been working with the Red Rose squad on an ad hoc basis as a kicking mentor for Farrell and George Ford and the other playmakers. His positive impact has been apparent.
‘We’ve got to be very thankful to Jonny Wilkinson for the work he has done with Owen Farrell and George Ford,’ said the architect of England’s 3-0 return here. ‘He’s been superb. Owen’s been absolutely terrific on tour. He’s kicked well and played well.’
Naturally, Farrell was at pains to play down his exploits in the last three weeks, in Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney. ‘That’s my job,’ he said, matter-offactly as always. ‘The first week probably spurred me on a little bit because even though I knocked them over that week I wasn’t striking them as well as I thought I could. I really got back to it that week after and came good. Not everything is perfect at the minute, there’s a lot to get on with, but I’m in a good place.’
The man who has adapted to his revised position at inside centre gave his own take on the masterpupil arrangement which has served him so well. ‘Working with Jonny has impacted on me massively,’ said Farrell. ‘He’s made me understand a lot better what I do and how I get to where I want to get to.
‘He’s the best ever. I can’t see anybody ever being better than him either. He’s a good person to learn from. He’s someone who knows it all inside-out, someone who’s thought a lot about it. If it doesn’t go in one way, he’s got 10 different ways of telling you how to do it. It’s brilliant for me and George. It’s not for me to get into technicalities, but it’s great working with him.’
Assessing the overview of England’s performance, Farrell added: ‘The aim was to put a complete performance out there. We didn’t do that, but we got more towards it in the second half. We know we can get better. We have to back it up and keep improving because we’re not where we want to be.’