THE BATTLE FOR No 10...
Farrell is the safe pair of hands and Cipriani is the wild card. Today they meet for the highest stakes
‘IT’S me nana,’ mutters Owen Farrell as his phone vibrates in his pocket. ‘ She t e xt s me e very Wednesday or Thursday to say good luck for the weekend.’
Farrell is sitting in the dusty changing room of his childhood rugby club. It is where he used to have carefree kickabouts with his friends but today, in his showdown with Danny Cipriani, the stakes will be significantly higher.
Farrell is on his day off but the Saracens player has already spent the morning at the physio and, during a break at this commercial appearance, he looks up which rugby matches are on TV over the weekend.
Obsessions are fine as long as they are healthy, he says, although rugby union seemed like an unlikely obsession when he first arrived at Harpenden RFC as a reluctant league-playing schoolboy.
‘I got dragged here on my first day,’ he recalls. ‘We’d just moved down from Wigan and I didn’t want to leave my friends back home. I was a bit different to everyone else. I sounded different. I hated it the first couple of days but I stayed at my friend Charlie’s house by the end of the first week. He dragged me along on the Sunday morning and I went from there. I hadn’t played union before... I was a little bit behind the others.’
During those early years, Farrell lived opposite George Ford and the pair would throw a ball around in their cul-de-sac after school. Ford would help Farrell with his French homework and together they graduated through the ranks of English rugby; from French tests to France Tests.
A decade later, Farrell is at the front of the pack. His England jersey hangs on a wall upstairs and he has become England’s indispensable man. Yet questions linger about how and where he will be used at the World Cup: at No 10? 12? Alongside or instead of Ford or Cipriani?
Ford and Farrell’s relationship has taken years of nurturing, but Cipriani’s emergence as the Premiership’s in- form fly- half has thrown a curveball smack into Eddie Jones’s face. Cipriani offers game-breaking moments of individual brilliance, while Ford is better known for bringing out the brilliance of others. Ford offers a safe pair of hands, while Cipriani’s can appear, well, anywhere. After his arrest following an incident in a Jersey nightclub, his Gloucester team-mates played ‘Locked up’ by singer Akon on the team bus and swiftly moved on, but Jones has not forgotten.
The timing of today’s duel at Allianz Park could not be better. Quoting Mike Tyson last week, the England head coach said: ‘Everyone’s got a plan until they get punched in the face.’ Like Farrell, Cipriani is a ringmaster. Selection is not a topic that Farrell will be drawn upon — but he is well aware of his opponent’s threats.
‘A lot of what Gloucester are good at goes through him,’ he says. ‘We’ll try to take away his time and space. We have t o make sure we’re switched on for everything. Any time there’s been an advantage, he’s come up with something.’
And, in Farrell’s own words, how does Cipriani compare with Ford as a midfield partner? ‘Everyone can see what type of player he is and how he compares to others,’ he replies, having started outside Cipriani in the No 12 jersey for England’s victory over South Africa.
‘It was only the last week of tour that we spent more time together. It was good. Everyone’s different. Everyone’s their own player. Me and George have known each other a long time, therefore we have a decent relationship and we’re on the same page. If we’re not on the same page, we can correct it pretty quickly. We’re all open and honest enough now though not to feel uncomfortable with anyone.’
Farrell is now 26, while Cipriani is 30 and Ford is 25. Jones believes a fly-half does not mature until they are 28. All Blacks fly-half Beauden Barrett is only 27 and Farrell studies all of his compatriots in his quest to become the ultimate player.
‘Ask my wife and she’ll tell you that rugby’s on all the time,’ says Farrell. ‘I’ll be up at half eight to watch the Rugby Championship games on Saturday. Big games like that are usually an i ndicator of where rugby’s going. You take what you can from the players who make the difference.’
Jones, too, has been watching the southern hemisphere teams and claims his 10s have the potential to push on to emulate Barrett.
‘I watch those games but I don’t think “I wish we had him” or “I wish our boys could do that”,’ said Jones. ‘I watched Dan Carter play in the Japan League last Saturday. At 36, he is unbelievably good. He did not get to that stage until he was 28. He was not a great decision-maker before that but he got there. Our guys have great skillsets. Most 10s do not mature until they are 28 or 29.’
Judging by recent performances — and with a dose of nana’s luck — Farrell is not far off.
‘YOU TAKE WHAT YOU CAN FROM PLAYERS WHO MAKE A DIFFERENCE’