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The father and son snap that was the talk of the Six Nations launch in London

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Rugby union is a game littered with father and son duos.

Bill and Josh Beaumont; Bryan and Cameron Redpath; Bill and Tevita Cavabuti; and Johan and Ruan Ackermann all spring to mind.

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The most iconic of current father and son double acts, of course, is Andy and Owen Farrell. The latter is the incumbent England captain, the former takes up the reins as the head of coach of Ireland.

At the Guinness Six Nations launch in London the pair were doing the rounds for their respective camps, but of course their paths crossed and it made for a number wonderfully awkward father and son moments.

Continue reading below…

WATCH: Head coach Eddie Jones and captain Owen Farrell hold a press conference in London ahead of the start of the Six Nations tournament.

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One of those fleeting moments was captured on camera, and it really does paint a thousand words.

Farrell Snr was walking off stage during promotional photographs of the coaches, as Owen is lining up for his captain’s photocall.

‘Papa Faz’ – as he was known on the British and Irish Lions tour in 2017 – reaches out a hand to his son. ‘Baby Faz’ looks on with his arms folded, and there’s something of a teenage-like deportment to the usually assured flyhalf.

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Alun Wyn Jones and Jonny Sexton look on in the background.  It’s a terrific snapshot by photographer Ramsey Cardy for Sportsfile.

Owen Farrell Andy Farrell
(Photo By Ramsey Cardy/Sportsfile via Getty Images)

“I spoke to him,” confirmed Farrell Snr when asked late in the schedule whether he had managed to catch up with his Farrell Jnr. “I have just had a protein bowl with him and a coffee in the green room out the back.”

Later, while reflecting on his son’s current conundrum at Saracens, the 44-year-old admitted that he had something of a personal insight. Owen is among several star players facing uncertain futures at the club following its relegation from the Premiership.

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“I have not got an opinion because you understand as a parent it is sensitive anyway.

“There is a lot of questions still to be asked and answered you know so, I don’t think they have got all the facts together yet of what that future looks like. I am sure that will come out in the not too distant future. I suppose I will have an opinion then.”

They may be in opposing camps, but they always have each other’s backs.

 

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fl 36 minutes ago
‘Props are awesome…so why don’t they win prizes?’

“The reason most props don’t last the whole game is that they expend proportionally more effort than players outside the front row. Should they be penalised for that?”

No, they don’t last the whole game because they are less fit than players outside the front row. I’d be interested to know if you’d apply this logic to other positions; do PSDT and Itoje regularly last longer than other players in their positions because they put in less effort?

None of this is about “penalising” props, its about being realistic about their impact on a game.


“While scrums are a small part of the game in terms of time spent in them, they have disproportionate impact. Dominant scrums win games; feeble ones lose them.”

Strength at the breakdown wins games. Good kicking wins games. Good handling wins games. Strong defence wins games. Good lineouts win games. Ultimately, I think that of all these things, the scrum is probably the least important, because it demonstrably doesn’t correlate very well with winning games. I don’t think Rugbypass will allow me to link articles, but if you google “HG Rugby Crowning the Best Scrum in Club Rugby” you’ll get a pretty convincing analysis that ranks Toulouse and Bordeaux outside of the 10 best club sides in the scrum - and ranks Leinster outside of the top 30.


“Or there’s Joe Marler’s epic performance in the Bristol v Quins 2021 Premiership Semi-Final, in which he finally left the pitch 15 minutes into extra time having signed off with a try saving tackle.”

Yeah - that’s a good example actually, but it kind of disproves your point. Marler played 95 minutes, which is unheard of for a prop.


“Maybe we need a dedicated Hall of Fame with entry only for props, and voted for only by props.”

Well we have the World Rugby XV of the year. Its only been going for a few years, but in time it’ll be a pretty good record of who are perceived as best props - although the lack of interest most people have in scrums means that perception of who the best props are doesn’t always match reality (e.g. Tadgh Furlong was great in 2018 - but was he really the best tighthead in the world in 2021, 2022, & 2023?).

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