Winning is a slam dunk with Farrell
OWEN FARRELL was thrust into the ring of delirious Saracens for their traditional changing-room victory dance, the timitanga, at Murrayfield on Saturday night.
As the newly crowned European player of the year, the spotlight was deserved and the position was wholly appropriate.
Farrell is at the heart of everything Saracens have achieved. It was not just his goalkicking in the final, neither was it his defence – although, just like Jonny Wilkinson, he provides his team with an extra back-row forward at fly-half.
Nor was it the subtle passing game, which has come on leaps and bounds over the past couple of seasons, to the point where he is starting to rival George Ford as a distributor.
No, it is something less tangible, a presence that is elevating Saracens to a level that has put clear water between them and their challengers in Europe.
Brad Barritt is the Saracens captain and he provided his own selfless lead until giving way to a cut and a
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“He’s a bit like of the year. Kobe Bryant – he The prize from gets annoyed at sponsors Turkish everyone and he Airlines gives the shouts at everyone fly-half a prize of but you can see one million air where he’s coming miles. Always said from. He just wants the lad will go far! everyone to perform at his level and getting player of the season shows what an amazing player he is,” said Billy Vunipola.
“It’s amazing for someone so young to be so driven. We’re different people but I admire him a lot for how driven he is.
“Faz said when they scored that second-half try, ‘You have to fight’ so I was like, ‘All right, let’s do it’.”
Named as the players’ England player of the year last week, this is becoming a golden season for Farrell but as ever with the Wiganer, whose least favourite word is ‘I’, it is always all about the team.
“When it has come to these big games we’ve been brilliant,” said Farrell. “We have really kicked on from the group stages. ”
His father Andy was watching as a proud parent rather than a Lions coach, and he rose at the final whistle to salute Saracens with the rest of their loved ones.
But when Warren Gatland asks him to put emotion to one side and provide a debrief, his honest assessment must be that Johnny Sexton now has a genuine rival for the No10 shirt in New Zealand.