'Obviously there have been conversations' - Stuart Lancaster on Owen Farrell
Stuart Lancaster has confirmed Racing 92 are interested in recruiting Owen Farrell from Saracens but insists a deal has yet to be agreed.
Lancaster watched his Top 14 leaders lose 29-25 to Bath in a pulsating Investec Champions Cup clash at the Recreation Ground that was billed as the west country club’s biggest game for nine years.
Farrell, the England captain who is to miss the Six Nations in order to prioritise his mental well-being, has been in talks with Racing over a possible move next season that would make him ineligible for international selection.
The 32-year-old was given his Test debut by Lancaster in 2012 when the Cumbrian was England coach and the new Racing director of rugby is keen on taking him to Paris.
“Racing are often linked with key players and I’m lucky my relationships with players from England and Ireland are all part of that, but we’ll see,” Lancaster said.
“He would be a great signing, who wouldn’t want a player like Owen Farrell? We’ll see how it plays out. No deal has been done, there is no confirmation of anything for next year.
“I have signed for four years and what I’m trying to do is build a team that can win this year and a team that’s going to be really competitive over the next couple of years as well.
“Obviously there have been conversations. It’ll be me (who has the final say on signings).”
Bath celebrated one of their greatest wins in Europe and an important test of their revival under Johann van Graan by registering a bonus-point victory against star-studded Racing.
They were forced to come back from a 22-8 deficit to remain on course for a home tie in the round of 16, with Alfie Barbeary, Joe Cokanasiga and Will Muir scoring the crucial tries.
Barbeary was outstanding and even at 23-years-old the number eight was the key figure in a win that was only marred by two yellow cards, resulting in his dismissal with six minutes left.
His dangerous tackle on Max Spring and shoulder-led carry into Nolann Le Garrec will result in a disciplinary hearing this week, but Van Graan is confident the England prospect will avoid a ban.
“When I signed Alfie I said, ‘You can become the premier ball carrier in European rugby’. He carried exceptionally well against Racing,” Van Graan said.
“In terms of his turnover just before half-time and his ball carrying, he kept fighting. He is a special player. He is a big personality in our team. We are working on his fitness.
“Neither of the two incidents were on purpose. That’s rugby and I felt the referee dealt with that pretty well.
“Alfie was gutted when he came off, but hopefully he can play next weekend because it’s two yellow cards and you look at both incidents individually.”
Comments on RugbyPass
Big 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.
2 Go to commentsThis game was just as painful as the Hurricanes game. It was real fork-in-the-eye stuff.
2 Go to commentsNow if they could just fire the Crusaders ground PA guy who likes to play his dance music and just loves the sound of his own voice the entire game, even when play is going on. And I thought their brass band thing of a few years ago was bad.
5 Go to commentsUnfortunately when you lose by far the two form players this season in Roigard and Aumua, you're left replacing two game changing Tanks with a couple of pea-shooters. Which is also about the speed of TJs pass.
2 Go to commentsBit rich coming from the guy with zero loyalty to anyone or any team, including happily taking a players place in a league world cup squad because well, SBW wanted to play in it and thus an already named player got told he was no longer going. And airing stuff like this, which may or may not be true, doesn't exactly say you're a stand up guy either SBW. Just looking to keep his name in lights as usual.
38 Go to commentsTamati Tua. …the Taniwha NPC midfielder. Ollie Sapsford, Hawkes Bay NPC midfielder…doing well
2 Go to commentsFiji deserve to be in the rugby championship, fans love seeing the Fijian national team play, the Fijian Drua is a wonderful idea but the players can still be stolen to play for NZ and AUS…
2 Go to commentsThe first concern for this afternoon are wheather forecast…
1 Go to commentsWhy cant I watch Rugby games please?
1 Go to commentsBeautiful shot from Finau, end of story. Gutted for Shaun Stevenson though.
4 Go to commentsThe Chiefs definitely didn’t win ugly. They had the superior scrum, a dominant lineout, and their defence was excellent once the Waratahs scored their two tries (thanks to some lucky refereeing calls mind you). They put pressure on the Waratahs lineout throughout the game, and the mind boggles as to why the referee did not award a yellow card or a penalty try against the Waratahs for repeated scrum infringements on their own try line before Narawa’s first try. And the Chiefs were slick with their passing and running angles on attack. It was a dominant performance all round, even with many questionable refereeing decisions.
1 Go to commentsWasnt late. Ref 2 assistants andTMO all saw it so who are you to say it was?
4 Go to commentsAre the Brumbies playing the Blues twice in a row?
4 Go to commentsBig difference from the Saders. Forwards really muscled up and laid a solid platform. Scooter brought some steel and I liked the loosie combination. Newell has been rather disappointing this season but stepped up big time - happy also to see Franks dot down. He should do that more often! Reihana had a good game and there seems to be more flair and invention with him in the saddle. McNicoll plays well from the back and is reliable plus inventive when he joins the line. Keep it up chaps!
5 Go to comments🤦♂️🤣 who cares who’s the best . All I know is the All Blacks have the star coach but have few star players now …
34 Go to commentsJe suis sûr que Farrell est impatient de jouer avec Lopez et Machenaud et d’être entraîné par Collazo… 🤭
1 Go to commentsAn on field red (aka a full red) in SRP must surely carry a bigger suspension than a red card given by the bunker as that carries a 20 minute team punishment. Had Damon Murphy abdicated his responsibility as a ref and issued both Drua players a yellow, which would have been upgraded to a 20 minute red by the bunker, that would have killed Australia and New Zealand’s push for the 20 minute red to be trialled globally from July this year.
11 Go to comments