ENGLAND MUST GET FARRELL FIRING
He’s been ‘clunky’ with his plays, is missing his kicks and taken two massive hits. So...
OweN Farrell was ill yesterday and unable to take a full part in england training. the timing couldn’t be worse.
It has put Farrell’s hopes of being involved in england’s final world cup pool match against France on saturday in doubt. And Farrell needs to play. he needs to turn a corner.
the captain has not hit his stride at this world cup. In the opener against tonga in sapporo, he was steady, nothing more, as england laboured to put away the Pacific Islanders.
then there was a half-hour cameo against the United states which was most notable for the fact Farrell was smashed high by John Quill, which earned the eagles’ flanker a red card.
Nine days later, the skipper suffered a similar fate against Argentina, as Pumas lock tomas Lavanini was sent off for a tackle which saw his shoulder collide with Farrell’s head.
Once again, the 28-year- old saracen returned to action, but there were concerns the illegal hit had taken its toll.
In the first half, he missed four successive kicks at goal, an all but unheard of sequence of lapses by one of the game’s premier kickers. After the break, he kept running into trouble behind the gainline. Farrell appeared to be hesitant in possession and was ambushed. All the while, his friend George Ford was directing traffic with serene authority and efficiency at No10.
In the aftermath of the victory over Argentina, Farrell insisted he was clear-headed and that he had not been excessively shaken up by Lavanini’s wild challenge so soon after the one by Quill. But the evidence suggested otherwise. he wasn’t himself. there was no sign of the decisive, clinical playmaker england have so often relied upon.
they need that playmaker back, which is why eddie Jones must decide today whether to deploy Farrell against France, or rest him because qualification for the quarter-finals is assured.
Last saturday, Jones claimed Farrell was ‘outstanding’ — more in reference to his leadership than his personal performance. Yesterday, attack coach scott wisemantel delivered a further assessment.
‘In regard to the weekend, I don’t think the bump had any effect on him,’ wisemantel said. ‘I asked after the game. he said he felt pretty good — just a bit clunky with a few of the plays. we have reviewed it and there are a couple of areas we need to pick up on, but he was fine. he did outstandingly well.
‘he is a tough, competitive player who, if anything because he competes so hard, probably tries to over-rectify the situation. there were a couple of things. And it wasn’t just Owen. In and around him there were a few things that were clunky.
‘when I say clunky, look, I am a perfectionist. You’re never going to get a perfect game of rugby. we scored six tries and five to the backs, so we are not too clunky!
‘ I probably exaggerated, because there is a story there with Owen, you are going down that route and I’m trying to deflect.
‘It is not just Owen, there are other things that I see around him that aren’t perfect that we need to get right. so I don’t think you can read into it too much as far as Owen’s performance (is concerned), because in general he was very good and did the role we wanted him to play.’
that is a pertinent part of any debate about Farrell’s form — the role he is being asked to play. he is a fly-half by nature, but once again he is operating at inside centre, with Ford at 10.
It may not be his preference, but any suggestion that the arrangement doesn’t suit him appears to be a red herring when considering his and england’s better record with a Ford-Farrell creative axis. they were working in tandem at 10-12 during the world-record run of test wins after Jones took charge.
‘ the thing about the dynamic is Owen becomes more of a runner at 12,’ said wisemantel.
‘You can pull it apart and say he is not his usual self, but he is more of a runner, so you are seeing a different Owen. You are not seeing the distributor all the time because George fills that role. It is changing roles. George is doing exceptionally well.’
england are at pains to insist they don’t believe Farrell is being targeted for rough treatment. wisemantel said: ‘I just think it’s dumb luck. It didn’t matter who was there, they would have got hit. It’s just bad luck, and if you touch the ball a lot, your chances get a bit greater. I don’t think he was targeted.’
the england camp categorically refute any suggestion that they should have handled Farrell with greater care, by bringing their prized asset off for head injury assessments after the two high hits on him.
‘the referee was right there,’ said wisemantel. ‘ Nigel Owens discussed it, so he makes a call and the medics make a call.
‘Owen said he was fine, but it’s not down to him. It is down to the medics. You had the referee, medics and Owen. so you had three separate sources — all can make separate decisions. Any one of them, if there is doubt, he is off. he got a clean bill of health from three different sources.’
so, england are satisfied Farrell has been treated correctly. But if there was no scrambling of the senses, his performance against Argentina made no sense. It is surely best to tread carefully, remove him from the firing line this weekend and aim for a return to the team and top form in the quarter-final.
today it’s decision time. ‘ we need to look at whether it is worthwhile resting him,’ wisemantel said.
It does appear worthwhile. england need vintage Farrell. they haven’t had that yet here in Japan.
841 POINTS Farrell has scored for England — second only to Jonny Wilkinson’s 1,179