Matt Dawson becomes latest big name to call for Owen Farrell to be dropped by England
Former England scrum-half Matt Dawson is the latest big name in English rugby to call for skipper Owen Farrell to be dropped, despite Eddie Jones’ men coming away with a comfortable victory against Italy in Twickenham.
England got off to a rocky start with an early try for Monty Ioane, but England soon hit their straps and opened up on the scoreboard with tries from Jonny May, Anthony Watson, Jonny Hill, Jack Willis and Elliot Daly.
However, writing in his BBC Sport column, the former scrumhalf has called on Farrell to be dropped from the matchday squad entirely.
“Farrell was scrapping, fighting and was lucky he was not punished for a late tackle on Italy scrum-half Stephen Varney,” wrote the 2003 World Cup winner. “He is on the edge. He will not like it, but we have all been there and it has got to be recognised by selection.
“It does not mean Farrell is not going to be a world-class player, but there just needs to be a bit of coaching and training – maybe away from the side. Something needs to happen, because it is holding England back.
“There were moments when he was not sharp, dropping the ball or knocking it on. That may be because he has not been playing while Saracens wait for the Championship to begin.
“You do not lose your world-class status and talent because of a couple of poor games, but it has been an extended period where he has not been lighting it up.”
“Against Italy, you had fly-half George Ford zipping around, the ball was getting moved really quickly but 12 – where Farrell played against Italy – is a real problem for England,” said Dawson, who played his last game for England in 2006.
“There is not that link to the outside backs, so everything becomes very lateral and there are no decoys or threat to hold the defence.”
Dawson is not the first former England player to call for Farrell to be dropped, with Harlequins fullback Mike Brown suggesting the very same in the aftermath of the Calcutta Cup defeat to Scotland, albeit suggesting the Saracens playmaker could be benched to allow Ollie Lawrence to play outside George Ford.
“I would rather see England get some of their dangerous players into the match and give them a chance to express themselves — I don’t enjoy watching kick-chase all the time and I am sure people at home don’t either.”
“I don’t think Ollie Lawrence at centre and Watson on the wing had touched the ball by then and England need to get these players into the game. Leaving Farrell on the bench would give Lawrence the chance to show what he can do — he has hardly had an opportunity in his short career.”
It’s been a remarkable sea change in public perception for the Saracen, who has been a key leader for England since breaking into the side back in 2012. England head coach Eddie Jones was pressed about his selection prior to the Italy game and he came out firing in defence of his captain.
“Every player is up for selection and it is all dependant on form,” said Jones when asked how he goes about selection. “You look at historical form, you look at present form and you try to make the right decisions for the team – and Owen is no different from any other player.”
“He has been a highly consistent, highly successful player for us. Like a number of players on Saturday, he wasn’t at his best. I know there is a bandwagon, but he is an outstanding player and like any outstanding player they can have a game where they are not at their best. Is that a reason to drop the player? I wouldn’t think so.
“There is no set law or rule for that,” added Jones when asked if Farrell received preferential treatment. “We are always trying to make the right assessment. We had to go through a difficult stage with Dylan (Hartley) when his form was starting to tail off.”
Comments on RugbyPass
Bold headline considering the Canes and Blues are 1 and 2 and the Brumbies were soundly beaten by the Chiefs and Blues. Biggest surprise is Rebels 4 Crusaders 12 - no one saw that coming. If Aus are improving that’s great 👍
1 Go to commentsAnna, You are right, we need to have patience whilst the others catch up to England and France. Also it is the PWR that has been the game changer for England. the RFU put money into that initially at the expense of the Red Roses. I was sceptical at first but it has paid off in spades.
1 Go to commentsI think Matt Proctor became a 1 test AB in the same fixture. Cameron is quality and has been great this season, can’t believe’s he only 27. Realistically how would he not be selected for ABs squad this year. Only Dmac is ahead of him as a specialist 10. With Jordan out, it will come down to where and when Beauden Barrett slots back in, and where they want to play Ruben Love. Cameron seems an absolute lock in for the wider squad though. Added benefit of TJ-Cameron-Jordie combination at 9, 10, 11 too.
1 Go to commentsFarcical, to what end would someone want to pay to keep this thing going.
1 Go to commentsHavili, our best 12 by a mile, will be in the squad, if he stays fit. JB is the most overrated AB in the last 50 years.
61 Go to commentsWe had during the week twilight footy, twilight cricket, tw golf plus there was the athletics club. Then the weekend was rugby 15s plus the net ball, really busy club scene back then but so much has changed and rugby has suffered. And it was all about changing lifestyles.
6 Go to commentsIn the 70s and 80s my club ran 5 Senior sides plus a Vets. Now it is 2 sides with an occasional 3rd team. Players have difficulty getting to training now, not sure why and the commitment is not there. It seems to me more a problem of people applying themselves and not expecting to turn up and play whenever they want to.
6 Go to commentsROG’s contract is until 2027. The conversation about a successor to Galthie after RWC 2027 may be starting now. We can infer that Galthie’s reign stops then. He is throwing the Irish Coaching Job angle in because he is Irish. The next Irish coach MUST be Leo Cullen. As well as being the best coach available, coaching the vast majority of Irish Internationals week in week out, he has shown incredible skill at recruiting the best coaching staff for the job in hand. That was a failing in France. Cullen is a shrewd guy and if there is a need for foreign coaches underneath him he won’t hesitate. Rightly so. Ireland does need to start to bring Irish coaches through. Not just at the professional level but we need to train coaches to man new pathways for developing kids from schools/clubs up through the divisions.
8 Go to commentsNo Islam says it must rule where it stands Thus it is to be deleted from this planet Earth
18 Go to commentsThis team probably does not beat the ABs sadly Not sure if BPA will be available given his signing for Force but has to enter consideration. Very strong possibility of getting schooled by the AB props. Advantage AB. Rodda/Skelton would be a tasty locking combination - would love to see how they get on. Advantage Wallabies. Backrow a risk of getting out hustled and outmuscled by ABs. Will be interesting to see if the Blues feast on the Reds this weekend the way they did the Brumbies we are in big trouble at the breakdown. Great energy, running and defence but goalkicking/general kicking/passing quality in the halves bothers me enormously. SA may have won the World Cup for a lot of the tournament without a recognised goalkicker but Pollard in the final made a difference IMO. Injuries and retirements leave AB stocks a bit lighter but still stronger. 12 and 13 ABs shade it (Barret > Paisami, Ione = Ikitau, arguably) Interesting clash of styles on the wings - Corey Toole running around Caleb Clark and Caleb running over the top of Toole. Reece vs Koro probably the reverse. Pretty even IMO. 15s Kelleway = Love See advantage to ABs man for man, but we are not obviously getting slaughtered anywhere which makes a nice change. Think talent wise we are pretty even and if our cohesion and teamwork is better than the ABs then its just about doable.
11 Go to commentsCompletely agree. More friday night games would be a hit. RFU to make sure every club has a floodlit pitch. Club opens again Saturday to welcome touch / tag. Minis and youths on Sunday
6 Go to comments1.97m and 105Kg? Proportionately, probably skinnier than me at 1.82 and 82kilos. He won’t survive against the big guys at that weight.
55 Go to commentsThe value he brought to the crusaders as an assistant was equal to what he got out of being there. He reflected not only on the team culture but also the credit he attributed to the rugby community. Such experience shouldn’t be overlooked.
8 Go to commentsGood luck Aussie
11 Go to commentssmith at 9 / mounga 10 / laumape 12 / fainganuku 14
61 Go to commentsBar the injuries, it’s pretty much their top team …
2 Go to commentsDon’t disagree with much of this but it appears you forgot Rodda and Beale, who started at the Force on the weekend.
11 Go to commentsExcept for the injured Zach Gallagher this would be Saders best forward pack for the season. Blackadder needs to stay at 7, for all of Christies tackling he is not dominant and offers very little else. McNicholfullback is maybe a good option, Fihaki not really upto it, there was a reason Burke played there last year. Maybe Havilli to 2nd five McLeod to wing. Need a strong winger on 1 side to compliment Reece
1 Go to commentsTo me TJ is clearly the best 9 in the competition right now but he's also a proven player off the bench, there's few playmaking players who can come off the bench as calm and settled as he is, Beauden can, TJ can and I doubt any of the scrumhalves in contention can, if they want to experiment with new 9s I want him on the bench ready to step in if they crumble under the pressure. The Boks put their best front row on the bench, I'd like to see us take a similar approach, the Hurricanes have been doing similar things with players like Kirifi.
61 Go to commentsROG has better chance to win a WC if he starts training and make himself eligible as a player. He won’t make the Ireland squad but I reckon he may get close with Namibia (needs to improve his Afrikaans) or Portugal. Both sides had 1000:1 odds to win the RWC in 2023 which is an improvement on ROG’s odds of winning a RWC as a coach. Unlike Top 14 teams, national teams can’t go shopping and buy the best players - you work with the available talent pool and turn them into world beaters.
8 Go to comments