Demoted Farrell m ust respond to avoid Hartley’s fate
Having lost the captaincy to Lawes, the England fly-half needs to channel his anger to earn a 2023 World Cup place
If, as Mark Twain once stated, “history doesn’t repeat itself, but it often rhymes” then Owen Farrell will probably not appreciate the similar inflections between his current situation and that of Dylan Hartley four years ago.
For the first three years of his reign as England head coach, Eddie Jones was steadfastly loyal to Hartley, even when his form dipped and a superior alternative emerged in Jamie George. Jones was loyal to a fault. Until he wasn’t.
England suffered a terrible 2018 Six Nations under Hartley and then he missed the 2018 tour to South Africa with a concussion, when Farrell first assumed the captaincy. When the hooker returned to action for that year’s autumn internationals, he was suddenly listed as cocaptain with Farrell. Then Hartley, described by Jones as his “foundation captain”, was a replacement for the last two autumn matches, which proved to be the last two games he played for England.
Farrell, too, suffered a slump in form in 2021 before an untimely injury forced Jones to turn to alternative captains in Courtney Lawes and Tom Curry last November and during this year’s Six Nations.
Now he is robbed of the precious “c” next to his name on the teamsheet, could this be the beginning of the end for Farrell, perhaps the most misunderstood and maligned player of his generation?
“Not necessarily” is the short answer. Hartley was physically broken by the end of 2018, while Farrell is still fully in the prime of his career at 30 years old. Jones was at pains to emphasise Farrell’s continuing importance to this England team.
So many of Farrell’s qualities are intangible. His leadership, his presence, his aura. Without the captaincy and with a new gunslinger firing the shots at 10 in Marcus Smith, Farrell desperately needs to offer evidence of his value to the team beyond the ethereal or his goalkicking.
Much depends on his nascent
combination with Smith. This was the partnership that Jones effectively built his “New England” project upon. They have played only 68 minutes together, against Australia last November.
If the pair do not dovetail instantly and if Manu Tuilagi proves his fitness over the next 18 months, Farrell could quickly prove surplus to requirements, much as Hartley did. Certainly, he is not going to be satisfied with a tackle-bag-holding role in training or kicking his heels on the replacements’ bench.
Farrell is the most ferocious competitor in European rugby and is not used to being dropped in any capacity. The two biggest blowbacks that Warren Gatland ever received as Lions head coach was when he left Brian O’driscoll out of the third-test decider in 2013 against the Wallabies, and Farrell for the final Test against South Africa last summer. That is esteemed company.
Jones knew taking the captaincy off Farrell would entail a similar volcanic response.
He seemed happy that Farrell was as furious as he was. But it was a necessary decision. His intensity and exacting standards could easily burn team-mates out. As Jones admits in his book, Farrell is at his best when he is playing “aggressive and belligerent rugby. But those characteristics certainly don’t help you as a captain”.
That Jones turned to Lawes to succeed Farrell represents a hard pivot. Farrell was a natural successor to Hartley as a fellow rabble rouser.
Leadership can take many forms but in every vector Lawes and Farrell would appear in opposite quadrants. It is hard to imagine Jones describing Farrell’s captaincy qualities as “togetherness”, “calm” and being able to “engage with players” as he did with Lawes. It was also the last bridge back to the much-trumpeted New England now that the previously exiled George, Mako and Billy Vunipola are back in the Test squad. If Farrell had not been deposed as captain then all Jones’s exertions to build a new Jerusalem would have been for nothing.
However, in perhaps his most pointed comments yesterday, Jones said the starkest difference between Lawes (60 per cent win record) and Farrell (67 per cent) was the lack of success under the former. Jones’s new leadership structure and New England project will only survive as long as the coach is delivering results. If England suffer another series defeat, then the uncomfortable parallels of 2018 will be ringing loudly in the heads of both Jones and Farrell.