1
Lancaster: How Henry Arundell reacted to Racing signing Owen Farrell
Stuart Lancaster has explained why the signing of Owen Farrell appealed to Racing 92, adding that he doesn’t envisage any issues between the former England skipper and the youthful Henry Arundell.
ADVERTISEMENT
The 32-year-old Farrell was confirmed last Monday as a new Racing recruit on a two-year deal that will begin this summer through to 2026. It’s a contract that will be signed off on next week when the Saracens captain visits Paris to complete his medical.
Lancaster described this medical as a formality, adding that a fee with Farrell has been agreed upon, so there is nothing that should delay the completion of the paperwork. Farrell won’t be the only recent England player on the Racing books under Lancaster, though, as the 21-year-old Arundell signed in the off-season following the collapse of London Irish.
He has since extended that deal through to 2026, a development agreed upon before it emerged that Farrell – with whom he had an alleged falling out at Rugby World Cup 2023 – was being chased by Racing.
Lancaster suggested on Friday at a media conference over Zoom ahead of this Sunday’s Top 14 game at home to Toulouse that this training ground incident between Arundell and Farrell at France 2023 was overblown and won’t be an issue when the pair become clubmates next summer.
“Henry is lucky, he has got lots of mentors already,” began Lancaster when asked about the situation for Arundell with Farrell now signed. “But I spoke to Henry about Owen coming and he was super excited. I think slightly too much was made about a very small incident that happened in one training session. I can name hundreds of incidents like that. So no, no, Henry is excited.
“It was a big decision for Henry, as you know, to stay here. He is playing against Toulouse on Sunday night at nine o’clock prime time TV, 18,000 people sell out at the Paris La Defense Arena so Henry is getting really challenged on the back of a young playing profile – he has not played a huge number of Premiership games, never mind international games, so he is benefiting from that.
ADVERTISEMENT
“So he is benefiting from just the experience, as Owen will I think. You are never too old to learn, you are never too old to develop, you are never too old to become better and I think all of those things are what excites Owen and part of the reason why Henry decided to stay I think, that challenge.
“Put it this way, I didn’t (want to) finish my career as a coach and think I turned it [the challenge of Racing] down because it was going to be difficult. I’d rather finish at the end and think, ‘Well, I gave it a crack’ – and I think Owen and Henry are in that category.
“I’m pleased deep down that they also trust me, that they trust that I can create an environment that can help them develop as well and we have got great young coaches here, Dimitri (Szarzewski), Yannick (Nyanga), Joe (Rokocoko) and Freddie (Michalak) in particular, and they are excited about working with them as well and picking up new ideas from all the players who come from many different countries.”
Regarding the paperwork to seal the Farrell deal, Lancaster said: “Yes, fee sorted.” He added regarding the necessary medical: “He [Farrell] has got a game this weekend so it’s quite hard to get a medical done. It’s just subject to medical and that will be done next week. He is playing tomorrow [Saturday] I assume. Saracens don’t have a game next week, so it fits better than this week.”
ADVERTISEMENT
Asked to shed light on what attracted Farrell to quit Saracens and switch from the Gallagher Premiership to the Top 14, Lancaster suggested: “Owen had made the decision to step away from England for a while and I got the sense from speaking to him he fancied a new challenge and I think, ‘Why not Racing?’
“We have a good relationship, we go back even before 2012 when I was in charge of the age-grade teams and the academies and he used to play for England U20s at the time. Since I left England I have come across him for my sins with Leinster when Saracens beat us in the European Cup final, he has gone on to have an amazing career.
“He has won six Premiership titles, three European Cups, Grand Slam, World Cup final, 100-odd caps for England, so when a player of that calibre is interested in a new challenge I wanted myself and Racing to put our best foot forward to try and show him an opportunity to develop and grow as a player.
“Owen asked me, ‘What do you see in my game that I can improve?’ There are lots of things I see that I think I’d like to work on him with and I think he is excited by that, he is excited by the challenge of something different at this time of his career.
“He doesn’t have to come to be the captain. We have got an improving leadership model here, strength in depth in leaders… he doesn’t have to come and be the captain or the player-coach, he can be a player and enjoy the experience as a player but also as a family.
“And the challenge of the Top 14, the challenge of working on a new project, the challenge of trying to build something. They are all things that appeal to Owen and his experience, quality and knowing what he brings as a person appealed to me.”
Comments on RugbyPass
I guess we may all agree on the fact, that the ABs and Boks are the two in contest for No 1 in rugby history (the triple-A sort of) …. the Wallabies, England and France are the next tier, with Ireland being the new kid in town (AA) …. in my view it makes little sense creating imaginary competitions (unless you have too much time to waste)
43 Go to commentsWhat a joke. Total joke and the pundits commentating, all of whom know a bit about the game, could barely disguise their contempt. Reaching for the card then pulling back when he realised a red card would carry further match suspensions is simply not his decision to make. A clear and obvious influence on the outcome of this match and indeed, the championship path.
4 Go to commentsI like the idea, in NZ the Ranfurly Shield and NPC coexist, both having their own bragging rights. The World Cup would be the pinnacle, but the competition and travels of these trophies would be interesting.
43 Go to commentsDon’t worry Sonny bill Williams leave that awkward situation about the curfew in the pass whoever it was it doesn’t matter its no big deal we back our All Blacks through the storm and the thunder until we see the Sun light again.
42 Go to commentsWho listens to this retard? He was a massive liability as a player but obviously a media sensation
42 Go to commentsI’m not surprised by such ‘virtue signalling’ by Sonny Boy. Butter wouldn’t melt in his mouth. He’s such a pious Islamic muppet, imo.
42 Go to commentsI’ve actually never heard of the guy (then I don’t watch League as it is boring). But if he is good enough.. then good luck to him. If not, well, he can always return to league.
2 Go to commentsIt is pretty clear that by almost any measure that NZ are a more successful rugby nation than South Africa. Quite aside from the distasteful events during the last RWC final. NZ lead SA in all significant measurements.
43 Go to commentsDickson went to his pocket for a card, saw who it was, changed his mind and spoke at length to TMO. One angle clearly shows Care diving over a Saints player to kill the ball. 1st yellow, reason given for not Red was player was falling backwards. He was only falling backwards after contact with Lawes. Graham try should have stood. Mitchell did not have both hands on the ball, ball went forward from a Saints boot dragging over it. 2 intentional knock-on's. One of which had an overlap on the outside. If Quins are happy to win by intentional foul play, then it does not say much for them. Would appear to be a bad day for Karl Dickson, also for the RFU in appointing a Ref who spent 8 years as a player at one of the clubs.
4 Go to commentsLet’s not forget about Ardie Savea just yet.
6 Go to commentsThe URC and the Euro Championscup can’t run at the same time, basically dilutes both competitions.
2 Go to comments“While Sotutu should start at No.8 for the All Blacks against England, but it’s only in that arena that he can prove just how good he really is.” And that my friends is where simply hasnt shone despite multiple opportunities. Even in this performance you can see what did him in in the test arena..he almost always still runs at the opposition almost ramrod upright making him easier to stop than it should be.
6 Go to commentsShould have been 0-0 and a message from SR CEO to both teams - “don’t worry about turning up next year”.
4 Go to commentsGreat work Owen Franks. A great of this team, scoring his first try for the Crusaders since 2010.He was beaming, justifiably. A fine win, he and the rest did the job up front.
1 Go to commentsDanny Care. Lang in die tand.
1 Go to commentsBig empty stadium does nothing for atmosphere but munster are playing well with solid performance
1 Go to commentsYes, Fiji can win the World Cup! With that belief plus their christian faith🙏 and hard work it is achievable. Great article. Ian Duncan Fiji resident 1981-84
2 Go to commentsInteresting comments about Touch. England’s hosting the Touch World Cup this year and the numbers have exploded since their last World Cup in 2019, something like 70% more teams and 40 nations taking part. And England Touch have made a big thing about how many universities are in their BUCS University Touch Championship as well as Sport England membership. Can only see this growing even more domestically as more people become aware of it
10 Go to comments“Cortez Ratima is light years ahead of anyone on current form, while TJ Perenara has also skyrocketed into contention following the unfortunate injury to the talented Cam Roigard.” At last some sanity. Hitherto so many pundits have been wittering on about Finlay Christie to the point one wondered if they were observing a FC in a parallel universe where the FC they saw wasnt just the mediocre Shayne Philpott project of Fosters hapless AB reign in the real world. Ratima, Perenara and Fakatava are the ONLY logical 9s for Razor now Roigard is crocked.
4 Go to commentsThis game was just as painful as the Hurricanes game. It was real fork-in-the-eye stuff.
4 Go to comments