Irreplaceable Farrell sees stock soar in his absence – Andy Goode
They say you don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone and that was definitely the case with English rugby and Owen Farrell at the weekend.
As a player your stock rises when you play well but sometimes it rises even more when you don’t play and your team misses you. The game at the weekend exposed how badly England miss Farrell’s leadership and game management when he isn’t there and reinforced his world class status.
Before Saturday he had started all 17 Tests he possibly could have done under Eddie Jones. He couldn’t play in the two matches against Argentina in the summer because he was away with the British and Irish Lions and the only other game he had missed was the one against Wales in May 2016, which was played the day after he helped Saracens win the Premiership title.
We knew he was world class already but this showed his true value because of the control that he brings to England’s game. They just aren’t the same team without him.
He is the kind of player and personality who makes others play better as well and it’s clear that the likes of Henry Slade, George Ford and Jonathan Joseph, who didn’t play too badly when you assess them individually, really missed his presence.
He was there alongside them at times in his role as water boy, complete with earpiece, but he isn’t going to have any real impact doing that. Senior players often do that job and it’s just to get a clearer message on because they know the details much better than the physios or strength and conditioning coaches that would otherwise be doing it.
I’m not sure how much you get paid as a water boy but I don’t think it’s £23,000! I hear he wasn’t particularly happy about being rested and nor would I be if I was missing out on that kind of money.
Jones knows how to manage his players and get the best out of them, though, and Farrell is the fulcrum of the team. He will be straight back in this weekend and England will be all the better for it.
Maro Itoje will come back in as well and it’s just whether he resumes his partnership with George Kruis, who had a quiet game, or joins Courtney Lawes.
Lawes made 24 tackles at the weekend and could be used in the back row but Robshaw is an important lieutenant for Jones and, despite not setting the world alight, is likely to keep his place alongside man of the match Sam Underhill.
One bad pass to Nathan Hughes when there was an overlap aside, I thought Slade did alright and he will flourish for England again at some point but he needs more international experience.
It’ll be interesting to see whether he gets the opportunity to occupy the number 13 jersey he has been wearing to such effect for Exeter this season against Australia and benefit from having Farrell inside him but Ford, Farrell and Joseph is the trusted midfield axis and that’s the safe bet.
I thought England were flat and low on energy against Argentina and they can’t afford to be as off the pace this weekend.
There’s no doubt that if we were playing against a better team, such as Australia, they would have lost that game.
They had a week of preparation away in Portugal and Jones said he only actually had four training sessions with the squad but the reports I heard from some of the players were that they got absolutely beasted.
I’ve been to watch England train under him and I’ve never seen anything like it in terms of the intensity and physicality and how much that takes out of the players.
I think you could see that in the performance and they looked lethargic.
Ultimately, it should have been a comfortable victory because the Pumas had only won one of nine games in 2017 leading up to Saturday and that was against Georgia.
In the end, it wasn’t uncomfortable but Juan Martin Hernandez missed three relatively straightforward kicks at goal that would have put England under real pressure, so it could have been a very different story.
They didn’t have the accuracy with ball in hand to trouble us but they had the physical edge in the forwards and were fairly dominant at scrum time, which will have been a concern.
However, the Australia scrum buckled in the closing stages of the Wales game, so England will be working on their set piece in training this week and I fully expect them to target that area and be back to their best on Saturday.
For England to win the game, it always starts with the set piece against the Aussies. Historically, it’s an area where they have almost always dominated them and if they can get that right, it will lead to points with Farrell back.
The Wallabies will come to Twickenham with a load of confidence on the back of beating the All Blacks not so long ago and Wales at the weekend, though, and they will really fancy their chances of handing Eddie Jones a first home defeat as England coach.
They’re a dangerous outfit and were missing two world class operators in Will Genia and Kurtley Beale when England dominated them in the summer of 2016 and last autumn as well. With them back, Australia are a completely different beast and it should be a hell of a Test match.
I’d have loved to have seen Israel Folau, who might well be World Rugby Player of the Year for 2017, playing too but he has been rested for this tour and that might just be the deciding factor and swing it in England’s favour.
One thing’s for sure. Australia won’t have forgotten the 3-0 series whitewash inflicted on them in their own back yard less than 18 months ago and this is a real opportunity to gain some form of revenge.
The performance will have to improve dramatically if England are to make it 21 wins out of 22 since the 2015 World Cup but it’d still be a shock if they didn’t.
Comments on RugbyPass
Always reluctant to blame a coach when losses rack up, but Penney must go. The backline is dysfunctional and the coach must carry the can. No cohesion, no idea and in many cases, minimal skill. The trains out of Roma St depart faster than the ball from Crusaders’ set pieces. Wouldn’t be surprised if the forwards went on strike.
1 Go to commentsAdding to earlier comment. Cullen Grace has been playing great at no6. Lio-Willie , who was on fire a few weeks ago, had a bad game. I think Cullen should have been moved to 8 earlier, Dominic Gardiner on earlier. Feel for Quinten Strange , put in a big shift .
4 Go to commentsWe dominated the scrums Ben Curry was all over pitch again .Surely James Harper got to be one of best English tightheads
1 Go to commentsRoos is a better option at 6 than 8 for the boks. Needs to work on his windgat though.
1 Go to commentsThe Sharks’ 2nd team maybe?
1 Go to comments‘radical’
1 Go to commentsCome back to Christchurch Robbie, please!
1 Go to commentsI think there is zero chance Sam Cane will be selected for another Test. There is simply no point except sentimentality. Razor is not sentimental- ask Wyatt Crocket. Razor is a ruthless selector
4 Go to comments> It would be best described as an elegant solution to what was potentially going to be a significant problem for new All Blacks coach Scott Robertson. It is a problem the mad population of New Zealand will have to cope with more and more as All Blacks are able to continue their careers in NZ post RWCs. It will not be a problem for coaches, who are always going to start a campaign with the captain for the next WC in mind. > Cane, despite his warrior spirit, his undoubted commitment to every team he played for and unforgettable heroics against Ireland in last year’s World Cup quarter-final, was never unanimously admired or respected within New Zealand while he was in the role. Neither was McCaw, he was considered far too passive a captain and then out of form until his last world cup where everyone opinions changed, just like they would have if Cane had won the WC. > It was never easy to see where Cane, or even if, he would fit into Robertson’s squad given the new coach will want to be building a new-look team with 2027 in mind. > Cane will win his selections on merit and come the end of the year, he’ll sign off, he hopes, with 100 caps and maybe even, at last, universal public appreciation for what was a special career. No, he won’t. Those returning from Japan have already earned the right to retain their jersey, it’s in their contract. Cane would have been playing against England if he was ready, and found it very hard to keep his place. Perform, and they keep it however. Very easy to see where Cane could have fit, very hard to see how he could have accomplished it choosing this year as his sabbatical instead of 2025, and that’s how it played out (though I assume we now know what when NZR said they were allowing him to move his sabbatical forward and return to NZ next year, they had actually agreed to simply select him for the All Blacks from overseas, without any chance he was going to play in NZ again). With a mammoth season of 15 All Black games they might as well get some value out of his years contract, though even with him being of equal character to Richie, I don’t think they should guarantee him his 100 caps. That’s not what the All Blacks should be about. He absolutely has to play winning football.
4 Go to commentswhat’s happening to Ian Peel?
1 Go to commentsAs a Crusaders fan , so disappointed , again.But I think Fergus Burke was all class for the Crusaders in his first game since October last year. Fletcher Newell , was so good at prop. Johnny McNicoll has been gold since returning from Wales. Noah Hotham brilliant , in a coming of age second season for the Crusaders.Jone Rova did really well at centre. The end of the game was tough.Sevu Reece , what a game/season in tough times.
4 Go to commentsFellas a balloon
3 Go to commentsBlues B team on display and made no race of it. By far the best team in SR with the Hurricanes barely getting past the winning post. Up the Blues 💙
7 Go to commentsWould be amazing to have Servette Genève reaching this level
3 Go to commentsThe Crusaders can't buy a win this season. Surely Penney's contract won't be renewed. There's still enough talent in the squad that they oughta be winning more.
1 Go to commentsABs captain for 23 seasons. Decent record. Surely nobody will surpass it. Legend. But alas a typo…
4 Go to commentsJust FYI Rugbypass, I for one am tired of your clickbait titles and thumbnails and will be clicking them no longer. Good day.
1 Go to commentsI think Farrell despite all of the stick he gets in the media is still one of if not the best fly half in the world. He is literally the full package. He can kick one of the best in the world, probably has the best defensive game of a fly half in the world and if he wants to he can run, take contact and find an offload to keep the pace of the attack. I dont know why he isnt spoken more about still being one of the best in the world with the likes of dupont. Farrell is the ultimate captain and team leader and is experienced- he has been in nearly any situation you can think of. I still believe due to these reasons that he is England’s best ever player and is still one of the best players in the world.
48 Go to commentsBlues are dominating up front and that’s been a long time coming. They have won the up front confrontation which is where canes, hilanders and act brumbies are also strong.
7 Go to commentsJust watched brumbies v safas game sadly not a show in he’ll thryr anywhere near quarters or semi contention. Admittedly some issues around new comers bot what stands out for me is coaching management, poor game planning and accuracy.
5 Go to comments