Farrell – and the game – are treading a dangerous line
Fly-half is England’s key player but he has to find a way to rein in those controversial tackles
Owen Farrell is such an important player these days that World Rugby appears to have given him his own set of laws to allow him to lead with his shoulder in tackles. This present from referees almost matches in scale the gift Farrell has been to Eddie Jones in England’s return to winning ways.
There were unconvincing, even chaotic, spells of rugby in England’s stabilising autumn campaign, but the gains were many. Three wins and a one-point loss to the world champions New Zealand exceeds what Jones could have hoped for at the start of the South Africa game, when a whiff of crisis was settling over his reign. At the root of a soothing run of results has been the colossal influence of Farrell, who leads with his heart, his head, and too often his shoulder.
Twice in this series England’s No10 escaped punishment for a style of tackling that was meant to have been outlawed by a sport claiming to be anxious about injuries, concussions and attrition rates. Both times Farrell’s arms were a late and distant supporting act to his shoulder, which he uses as a roadblock. And both times he deprived the opposition of points. South Africa were denied a kickable and match-winning penalty when the England fly-half levelled Andre Esterhuizen; and an Australian rampage was halted short of the try-line when Farrell smashed into Izack Rodda (each player led with his shoulder, and each flew backwards like a zapped comic strip figure).
The special Owen Farrell Code apparently allows these challenges, if England’s best player is the one making them. Rugby, though, is storing up trouble, because other countries will allege special treatment for Andy Farrell’s son and conclude referees are merely paying lip service to greater player safety. Australia’s Kurtley Beale complained about a lack of “consistency” in this area before himself falling foul of the regulation that deals with inviting women back to hotels after defeats.
If Australian indiscipline is a pattern, so is Farrell’s ingrained habit of tackling upright, with a swinging shoulder. By the time the World Cup arrives, referees will surely see they need to apply the laws of the game to all players, including ones called Owen Farrell. But in Japan next year, nobody will have any doubt either about Farrell’s indispensability to Jones. With him, England possess a competitive edge, a game-shaping intelligence. He is the outlaw talisman of Jones’s World Cup team.
England have now beaten Australia six times since the nadir of 2015, when they became the first host nation to depart a World Cup at the group stage with a 33-13 defeat in which Bernard Foley scored 28 of the Wallabies’ points. Back then, Farrell was a long way from being England’s automatic first choice No10. George Ford seemed the more creative candidate. Farrell was always ultra-physical and hungry for combat, but we had yet to see whether he could run a back division or shape a game of tactical variations.
Those questions are answered now. There are still times when England’s intentions are hard to discern, and others when they fail to recognise chances to be inventive and attack. At a push, you might have said Farrell exemplified this cultural primacy of brawn over brain. Now, though,his decision-making and composure have improved to such a degree he can pull England out of their numerous confused and clumsy periods and restore coherent purpose.
The fire flash of debate over Farrell’s tackle on Rodda obscured his supporting role in at least two of England’s tries – and his own, when he swayed across the line on 75 minutes and threw himself into the arms of Manu Tuilagi, back from the wilderness (though it remains folly to assume he is back forever, or even back for long). Particularly deft was Farrell straightening the line, throwing a dummy pass and then offloading to Elliot Daly for the England full-back’s long-range-try, which failed to erase all the doubts his suitability as first-choice No15.
All through the action you notice Farrell helping others to play their own games as well as performing his own tasks to a high level, which yesterday led to him surpassing Jonny Wilkinson’s record points-haul for an Englishman against Australia. As co-captain, Farrell’s influence on the field surely now exceeds Dylan Hartley’s clout off it. In attitude, or cussedness, the gap is small, but Farrell holds the previous advantage of being able to lead by deed.
How odd, then, he is not the best fly-half in the Six Nations, or even the British Isles. Johnny Sexton, not Farrell or New Zealand’s Beauden Barrett, is expected to be named World Player of the Year. Sexton is the totem in a superbly syncopated Ireland team. Farrell often has to carry this England team, who shrink without him. Not that Sexton should be denied the crown on that basis.
Farrell’s demonic tackling expresses his iron will and his physical courage. It sets the standard for self-sacrifice. But he should be bound by the laws of the game before the injustice starts to reek, he hurts someone or his own shoulder falls off.