The Owen Farrell player-only meetings - 'Everyone is hanging on every word he says'
England captain Owen Farrell will deliver his final team talk on the eve of Saturday’s World Cup final against South Africa to a captivated audience encouraged to speak their minds. Jamie George, Farrell’s Saracens and Lions team-mate, has set the scene for the last gathering to which coaches are excluded as Farrell addresses his squad before they do battle with the Springboks in Yokohama.
“I just can’t wait for Friday. That is Owen’s meeting. Friday night we have a meeting and we like to call it a captain meeting, a team meeting,” George said. “There are no coaches in the room. He just asks us how we are feeling and if anyone has anything to say.
“Often people will get something off their chest if they are thinking about the game and then he says his bit and without fail you could hear a pin drop. Everyone is hanging on every word he says. It is very inspirational without tearing the roof down because that is probably not what is needed.
“But he has a very good feel of what the team needs and what messages he needs to deliver. It lasts however long it lasts. There have been short meetings, there have been meetings that have lasted half an hour. It varies pretty much on how much the other lads want to speak. Often they don’t. Mako Vunipola will say his piece, Maro Itoje often has a little bit, Courtney Lawes speaks a little bit.
“In Owen’s mind, it’s quite nice to hear from people who haven’t been speaking, who haven’t got a huge leadership role in the team. He often draws on their feelings and experiences and sees how they’re feeling. There’s always going to be an element of tactical talk, but I’d say it’s 90 per cent emotion.
(Continue reading below…)
“But it’s not shouting and screaming – you are able to get your head down to sleep after it! He gets that balance quite nice and it sets the tone then for the build-up. The build-up starts from the minute you wake up on the Saturday – the image you give off to the people around you, even in the way you walk to breakfast. You are always constantly giving off a message to other people, about what your mindset is and how you are feeling.”
Farrell succeeded Dylan Hartley on a permanent basis before the 2018 summer tour to South Africa and has been at the helm ever since, adding leadership to his already considerable list of duties that include goal-kicking and playmaker. “Owen’s development has been brilliant. He has been a leader since I have known him at 14,” George said.
“Back then there was probably a lot more shouting because of frustration more than anything but now I think he has just developed a huge amount. As a leader, I can’t speak highly enough of him. He is the sort of person you want to follow.
What will be near the top of England's agenda when they set about trying to win the World Cup final versus South Africa? https://t.co/pL9Bp8KeZR
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) October 30, 2019
“He leads from the front but is also a person you can trust because you know first of all that he is probably the best at it in terms of his rugby ability but also the amount of tape that he watches. You know for a fact that the messages that he is giving you, he has been thinking over and over again.
“He is very good at delivering a theme and messages that build up nicely throughout the week. On the field, he is still vocal. In the changing room, I don’t think he’s ever been shouty. He is very calm – he has got a lot calmer, I’d say.
“He talks a lot about being in control of your emotions. That is something he has learnt a lot through his younger years but he is calm, delivers messages. There are times when we haven’t been quite on it in the warm-up, but it’s never a shouty message. You see it in his eyes, it’s a look – like, if he asks for more, we’re going to give him more, that’s the way that he is.”
– Press Association
WATCH: Former England international Neil Back sits down with RugbyPass to discuss the 2003 World Cup triumph
Comments on RugbyPass
Yeah nah he comes across as a funny bloke, but that stopped abruptly after the Nutcracker Prince debacle✋
1 Go to commentsAt this point I can’t watch him without thinking he’s a dirty slimebag. He should have been banned for the same amount of time that Quinn was out. It took Tupaea near on a fricking year to get fit enough to play again and his leg will never be the same. The other crap thing is that he was at ABs level and now he has to claw his way back there when he could have had several games under his belt.
4 Go to commentsThe Black Ferns 7’s have been without Captain Sarah Hirini now since Dec 23 in Dubai where she suffered a bad ACL injury - hopefully she is on the road to recovery for Madrid and Paris. Now also have Tyler King and Shiray kaka on the Injured List but the Team still found a way to win in Singapore and claim the overall Title.
1 Go to commentsUtter grub, hope he gets his leg broken. Shocking he is still playing after intentionally breaking quinn tupaeas knee
4 Go to commentsGreat to see NZ 7s teams finally coming into form and playing at the level that is expected of them.
2 Go to commentsChief Cheapshot on the market again.
4 Go to commentsCrusaders went all in to buy Hotham and Kemara staight from Hamilton Boys. Then they picked up Reihana and Hohepa; all have been dropped for superstar Havili, who is a very good fullback, that’s it. Ennor and Goodhue were schoolboy stars too but went backwards at the Crusaders. Maybe they have finally decided to give another poach Levi Aumua the ball?
13 Go to commentsJoe S has some talent to pick from. The Reds loosies look the best in Super? Aus might just give Razor a headache this year. Int. experience v Cantab greenhorn:) Should be fun.
13 Go to commentsEnd to end play, “THE FANS” this game was entertainment of the best. The conditions added to the spectacle.
1 Go to commentsSorry to say, but sadly the sadas were just ordinary and havilli at 10 as an abs selection just won’t cut it. He’s better suited in the centre’s and is a victim of past charge down kicks, he’s too slow under pressure. There’s better talent further north and I don’t mean dmac however I believe razor will sort him out. A feature of his presents on the park is the fact that the guys will follow him.
13 Go to commentsMarler was brilliant throughout both in the scrum and open play. His slap made virtually no contact with Ramos who milked it for a penalty when he could have been a decent sportsman and laughed it off, it was non-violent and shouldn't have been penalised. Smith failed repeatedly to kick when necessary and put up a couple of bombs into the TLS 22 that just handed back possession at key moments to the other side.
3 Go to commentsCros was outstanding and rightly awarded France TVs player of the match award. Mallia was brilliant as usual (the y is below the 6 on a UK keyboard and he deserves better than that). Level also seems to have been scored harshly as he walked the ball into touch under pressure from a Lynagh kick from well outside his own half which should never have led to a 50-22. Agree with BullShark that Dupont, while class at times, seemed to go missing for patches in the second half with props, hookers and wings frequently filling in at 9 as he couldn't get off the deck and up to the next ruck on time. A 7 by his standards at best, his kicking was also too long, too often. Kinghorn's overall contribution was worth well more than a five.
4 Go to commentsThe Harlequins team must be in minus figures. Did the reporter actually watch the game?
4 Go to commentsHow on earth did Walker escape a red card? Not dangerous? Dupont has his face in a mask earlier this season. Shocking decision. What is the point of TMOs? We had the Fassi ‘non-penalty try’ yesterday and now this.
2 Go to commentsCould have been a different result but yet again French tv able to affect the result by not showing the very clear high shot on harlequin centre if this would have been on a French player would have been on screen at least five times
3 Go to commentsAmazing. The losing team’s ratings are higher than the winning team’s. Mallia definitely didn’t deserve a y. What game were you watching? Should have got a w or an x. ADP hardly featured in that second half. At one point I wondered when he’d been subbed. Seems to me as if he gets an automatic 9 just for getting onto the team sheet.
4 Go to commentsI’m sorry. That second half was far from enthralling. It was painful to watch.
2 Go to commentsVery generous! If you’d missed the game, reading this you’d conclude that it was the Quins front row that cost them the game. Marler getting a blanket 6 for his demented contribution to the game. Puzzling.
3 Go to commentsCan’t see Toulouse beating Leinster at this rate.
7 Go to commentsADP was having a very average game until winning that penalty for Toulouse, sticking his big head in the way. “The head of God”?
7 Go to comments