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How Owen Farrell feels being on cusp of beating Wilkinson record
England skipper Owen Farrell has played down the hype about him surpassing Jonny Wilkinson this Saturday to become his country’s all-time record points scorer.
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The starting No10 versus Samoa needs just two points to overtake Wilkinson’s benchmark of 1,179 which has stood since the final Test match of his career, the 2011 Rugby World Cup quarter-final versus France in Auckland.
However, becoming the England points record holder isn’t something at the foremost of Farrell’s mind heading into a Pool D finale where Steve Borthwick’s team are looking for an impressive performance to take with them into their upcoming October 15 quarter-final in Marseille, most likely versus Fiji.
“I haven’t given it too much thought,” said Farrell after he was the only player from the starting team that beat Chile 71-0 on September 23 to be retained to take on the Samoans.
“It’s not something that you like to think about too much before anything is done. My sole concentration is on the game at the weekend and preparing for what is a massive test against Samoa.
“The one thing I will say is it has been honour to have the chance to play for England as much as I have. To be in the vicinity of that record, to be able to play with this group of players and all the players I have played with before and staff, the one thing I would say is it has been an honour so far.”
Comments on RugbyPass
Thanks again Nick and interesting comments from Parling about his lineout preferences. Bearing in mind what Schmidt has said about prioritising Oz based players initially we may not see Skeleton until the EOY trip to Ireland and the UK. To me that suggests that Cale has to be ready by then. In the meantime we get 3 jumpers by having 2 jumping locks and a Wright/Swinton/Holloway/Leota type of guy at 6. I think that he (Parling) would do well to coach Valentini and Wilson to jump more. Surely they could learn more about this?
5 Go to commentsdo what the ABs normally do and cruise around the South Pacific to cherry-pick the contenders
2 Go to commentsGood read, GP comes across as a very knowledgeable guy and pretty decent human to boot! Genuinely leaves me wondering though, how Australia’s second city could be in with a serious possibility of being left without a pro team. Just how does that get to happen? Credit to the team though, they’re performing pretty well under some horrible circumstances and pressure on their livelihoods. Whoever made the call to boot out DR, his staff and the structure/connections/succession plans he had put in place in unbelievably short order needs strung up by their most sensitive body parts. Thought that at the time and of course, events unfolded even worse than feared!
5 Go to commentsCan’t see an appetite to pick Brad Shields for obvious reasons, but Devan Flanders has got to be in with a shout.
2 Go to commentsThe rise of Hunter Paisami! Good read Nick (as ever). Cheers.
5 Go to commentsAs a long term glos supporter saturday was the last straw. Terrible run of results in league since Jan 23. No excuses , there are 3 conclusions Players simply arent good enough. Coaching team not good enough. Or combination of the 2. Either way glos lost pride in what used to be a team others feared.
1 Go to commentsWhat an interesting article, Nick. Late here, so will comment tomorrow am. “In the UK, you might have three whole months when you train set-piece and it’s pissing down. Over here, we very rarely experience games severely affected by weather..” Did you see the Waratahs game on the weekend ? If not have a look at the weather for that struck that one. Drowning would have a been a worry for any player trapped at the bottomof a pile up. Suspect the water polo people might be looking with interest at some of those rugby players after that game😀
5 Go to commentsThis article overlooks how the 9 position has developed to be a playmaker, which these 2 are both excellent at. Defences are so good now there is not the luxury of going 9 -> 10 on every play. Playing “off 9” as they say, has become very commonplace these days, but 10+ years ago you hardly saw this. Boiling the great modern 9s down to box kicking doesn’t do justice to how good the great ones have become. Dupont would be the first choice 10 in most teams in the world, JGP pops up in places you would never expect a 9 to be.
22 Go to commentsThe banning of the croc roll will make carrying the ball into contact far more risky, leading to more kicking, and the change to the Dupont law will mean forwards have to do far more running than they do now. As a result I think there will be a rise of smaller, more mobile forwards who are strong defenders and strong over the ball like Kirifi.
3 Go to commentsWhat does the ownership of the club have to do with the poor performance of the team. It’s not as if he’s coaching them or in any way influencing the composition of the teams. I honestly don’t understand the comment.
1 Go to commentsHe knows his body is not up to the work load of international rugby. The fact that Cane only played only 27 of the 46 games the ABs played while he was officially captain is a telling statistic. And that excludes the time he had out with neck injury. He was never able to put a long enough body of work together to get back to his best without a new injury setting him back. He knows better than anyone that the problem will get worse, not better, given the same workload. Correct decision and good luck to him.
9 Go to commentsWith three clubs it's surely death by oligopoly!😂 I suspect that other french clubs like Montpellier rich enough to compete, they are just missing some vital ingredients. Do you think that keeping an eight player bench but only being allowed to use four would level the playing field a bit? The 12 changes rule sounds disastrous for running rugby.
120 Go to commentsNice article
32 Go to commentsSurely they aren’t that short of 10s in the northern hemisphere?
1 Go to commentsBest wishes to a true warrior who gave everything for his team and country. He was no McCaw but the closest we've had in recent years in terms putting his head into dark places, leading the defensive line and securing the attacking breakdown - the core roles of a modern open side. If only he could have played more tests under Foster and Plumtree with blindsides who fulfilled their core roles. 2027 was always going to be a long shot. Hopefully Papalii fulfils the promise of 2021 and late 2022 and/or Lakai turns out to be as good as he looks.
9 Go to commentsFair play to him. A lot of exciting talent coming up in the loose forward position, can’t wait to see the next generation.
9 Go to commentsSam wants to focus on his family and learning how to tackle legally…what’s Japanese for ‘bend at the waist’?
9 Go to commentsNice story
1 Go to commentsThere's a log jam at the moment of quality number sevens competing for an All Black jersey. I think Du Plessis Kirifi is certainly one of them and has now developed an accurate sharp and energetic game as compared to when he was first picked. Would love to see Billy Harmon get first dibs at the jersey (been outstanding in a struggling side for a few seasons now), as I believe we've seen enough of Papali'i to understand what he brings to the role. Lakai is young and will get his shot. Du Plessis would be a bolt off the bench but his lack of versatility may hinder his chances.
3 Go to commentsGood Luck Sam, enjoy Japan.
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