ST
GARETH RELISHES AN OLD PALS’ ACT LARMOUR ADDS THE GLAMOUR
OWEN FARRELL bore the look of a man whose lawyer had just sprung him on a technicality.
As he stood in Twickenham’s concrete depths, England’s stand-off radiated relief.
He was the hero of the hour who had helped deliver a priceless backsto-the-wall win for England over a frustrated South Africa in a bruising opening to the autumn internationals.
Yet he was one suspect refereeing decision from being the villain. Farrell’s injury-time smash into Andre Esterhuizen (bottom), which effectively ended the game, was a noarms tackle of the kind routinely penalised by officials.
But Angus Gardner surprisingly let it go after calling for a review.
“Whenever anybody goes to the big screen to the TMO and slows it down like they did do, then of course I was worried but thankfully it went our way,” said Farrell. “It was a pretty big collision. It was tough to get my arms around him and the referee said I tried to. I try every time.”
Trying and succeeding are different things. Handre Pollard, who grazed the post minutes earlier, would still have needed to kick a long-range penalty to win but Springboks coach Rassie Erasmus (left) was understandably upset he was not given the chance.
“If that’s legal maybe we should all tackle like that,” said Erasmus, drily.
It was the one which got away for the Boks. They scored the game’s only try through S’bu Nkosi, had 64 per cent of territory and 59 per cent of possession, dominated up front but somehow lost the game.
Part of the reason was failing to capitalise on Maro Itoje’s first-half sinbinning and an attack of tunnel vision late on with a drop-goal chance beckoning.
Lacking a constellation of stars, England hung on by their fingertips at times but No.8 Mark Wilson, the official man of the match, was relentless.
The go-to guy throughout though was Farrell, but even more influential now as stand-off.
“Owen was intense. He really wanted it so bad,” said team-mate Ben Te’o. “He was banged up but he soldiered through.”
In many ways this is his England team now. He is officially co-captain with Dylan Hartley but there was a symbolism in him leading out the team on Saturday.
The kick that won the game, after Elliot Daly had popped over one of his long- range specials, was drilled nervelessly through the posts from a tight angle with seven minutes to go.
Wiped out by Esterhuizen minutes earlier, Farrell composed himself to deliver when it mattered. GARETH ANSCOMBE hopes a partnership forged 11,000-miles away will get a shot at landing a pre-World Cup blow on group rivals Australia on Saturday.
With Dan Biggar ineligible for this Test and Rhys Patchell struggling with concussion issues, Anscombe was given the opportunity to stake his claim for the No.10 jersey.
He ran through his full attacking repertoire at the Principality Stadium, with his former Auckland team-mate Hadleigh Parkes the ideal foil outside him.
“We are good mates and it’s nice to line up with him in a red jersey. If someone told us that four years ago, we’d never believe them,” said Anscombe, who qualifies for Wales through his Cardiff-born mother, while his fellow Kiwi is now a resident. “We’ll keep trying to grow our partnerships and, hopefully, we can cause some trouble. We’re looking forward to taking on the Aussies.” Anscombe put George North over with a delayed pass that sent the giant wing on a rampage through three Scotland defenders, while Jonathan Davies’ first Wales outing for 12 months was decorated with a brilliant try. IRELAND have found a new pin-up boy – Jordan Larmour, who ran in a hat-trick of second-half tries in Chicago.
The 21-year-old put the wind up Italy in the Windy City to leave coach Joe Schmidt on a winner at Soldier Field. Larmour (above) must be a contender to tackle Argentina in Dublin at the weekend. Schmidt said: “It was a pretty spectacular effort from Jordan and he’ll be delighted with that.” Ireland captain Rhys Ruddock said: “It’s unbelievably exciting. “Every time he gets the ball, he’s looking for opportunities. “He’s a quality player, it’s good to have him in the team.”