Owen Farrell: 'No fear' mantra as England stand on edge of history
Owen Farrell expects his England team-mates to seize their opportunity to realise their boyhood dreams by emptying the tanks in Saturday’s World Cup final.
South Africa stand between Eddie Jones’ side and the Webb Ellis Trophy as the sport’s top two teams prepare to face off at International Stadium Yokohama in a repeat of the 2007 showpiece.
In recognition of how tight the contest could be – England are favourites but the Springboks have the firepower to cause mayhem up front and in midfield – Farrell was on Friday practising drop goals under the guidance of Jonny Wilkinson.
As the extra-time architect of Australia’s downfall in the 2003 final, Wilkinson’s counsel has been sought on the eve of a seismic clash between rivals who are tied at 2-2 in meetings over the last 18 months.
And Farrell has echoed Jones’ mantra of approaching the match with “no fear” by offering all-out commitment in the climax to the first Asian World Cup.
“Everybody wants to be involved in this game and there are probably a lot of people who grew up wanting to be involved in this,” Farrell said.
“Now this opportunity has come around, you want to enjoy it, you want to go for it.
“You don’t want to dip your toe in and see what happens, you want to throw all of yourself into it and that’s the way that we’ll look to go about it.
“There are a lot of lads who have a good feel for where the group is and we’ll be open enough to feel what’s needed before the game.
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“We’ll let that happen and hopefully prepare in a way that allows us to throw ourselves into it and be free.”
England enter the repeat of the 2007 final with a good luck message from Prince Harry that included a photo of his son Archie in a Red Rose jersey and a warning from Jones to be ready for anything.
South Africa’s Rassie Erasmus steps down after the World Cup and Jones is an admirer of a coach he describes as “cunning”.
The man can do no wrong! #RWC2019 pic.twitter.com/jzqQCTKAYz
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“Rassie’s a very good coach, he’s an outstanding coach. He’s inventive, so they’ll have a few tricks up their sleeve,” Jones said.
“They’ve got great players: Faf De Klerk has probably been the half-back of the tournament so far and Willie Le Roux is a fantastic player at full-back.
“And they’ve got talent like Cheslin Kolbe on the wing, so we’re expecting the unexpected.
“We’ve just got to focus on each moment and play with no fear. What I feel is that the squad know how hard they’re going to have to work to win the game.
“We’ll have a chat at the hotel before we leave, but all the work’s done,” Jones said. #englandrugby#RWCFinal ? #ENGvRSA https://t.co/cOm1XThQoK
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) November 1, 2019
“They know South Africa aren’t going to give us the game. They also know we’ve got to go out there and win the game.
“We’ve been nicely building over four years and this is our opportunity on Saturday to put it all together. One last chance.”
All Blacks fans appeared to be in a sombre mood despite the fact that they convincingly beat Wales in the Bronze Final.
Comments on RugbyPass
It’ll be very interesting to see how Razor’s AB’s handle the new England rush D. It’s basically the Bok recipe they copied, so if England goes well then we know most likely the Boks will go well too. If England cops a hiding then we’ll have to study and adapt.
4 Go to commentsTypical trait of an australian is to moan. Goes well with there lack of humbleness as evident by the Reds bench on the weekend.
2 Go to commentsSBW’s bro’town commentary and lazy default to hyperbole should be ignored, a technical analyst he is not. Sotutu is a good player when games get goosey loosey, high skill set that fans of Zinzan recall with starry eyes. But you need power and mongrel at no8 in the Test arena and Sotutu gets found wanting there, much like Akira Ioane. No8’s like Zinzan and Ardie have bucketloads of mongrel and power and tenacity which allow the skill sets to flourish.
11 Go to commentsAn inside pass to attacker on the angle can make a drift defence look lead footed. Relies on fleet footed forward/s to get across from the breakdown. An argument for the smaller faster 7 perhaps?
4 Go to commentsSensational tackle. The reds one was late and rightly penalised. The other two were simultaneous with the pass. If nitpicking TMOs can’t find fault there clearly isn’t any.
2 Go to commentsBrumbies fully deserved their win on the back of their physicality and desire to control the ball. Xavier Numia, Asafo Aumua and Tyrel Lomax should be the ABs starting front row when we start our test schedule. They have “come of age” and have bested all they have faced as well as been dominant with ball in hand in making the gainline. With De Groot, Tamaiti Williams and Fletcher Newell backed up by Taukei'aho and Cody Taylor there's not an international front row that can trouble us. Can't wait to face the Boks over there, won't be no one point game this time.
5 Go to commentsKinda strange that he wasn’t with a premiership team or a higher level of rugby? Start playing late or something? With that kind of size and athleticism you’d think someone would have picked him up?
2 Go to commentsShows how much attitude matters. Last week the Brumbies got done, this week they dominated the tournament leaders, who were likely thinking they could cruise to victory.
5 Go to commentsA Turtle has more pace and leg drive than Owen Franks, so it’s a good thing he only had to run 90 metres for that try.
2 Go to commentsOh Tamati Tua was in the vastly over-rated Leon MacDonalds Blues system? Well, no wonder he was wasted, much like Emoni Narawa and Jacob Ratumaitavuki-Kneepkens under MacDonald. now look at them. Good thing Tua isn’t eligible, the Aussies latch on to any player who isn’t tied down.
5 Go to commentsMark Telea is a lot of things, but a defensive juggernaut has never been one of them. There will be far bigger tests in that regard for the youngster.
11 Go to commentsLove and respect to Fiji but not a chance outside of 7s
4 Go to commentsGood summation Ned. Agree the Canes were out-muscled for once (except at the scrum!) by a focused Brumbies outfit. Tua deserves consideration for higher honors after the way he humbled Jordie and the Canes defense. Thankfully, his lack of eligibility for Oz keeps him from Joe’s plans. While I also agree the injuries affected the Canes performance, some players seemed to lack focus and intensity for this match. Perhaps after the Blues demolished the Brumbies, they thought it was going to be easy? A good reminder that any slip up in preparation can have a big affect on the result. Brumbies deserved that win.
5 Go to commentsKarl Dixon should never have been appointed this fixture, absolute disgrace, He’s not much of a referee anyway, didn't have the balls to send his mate care off
5 Go to commentsBrilliant article! Harry of 8/9
4 Go to comments‘UK athletes' have been in the NFL from the start.
2 Go to commentsIt’s going to be Scott Barrett. He’s the coaches mate and captain of a previously elite team. Ardie a great option but scooter has worked with the coach and Ardie still as big a leader as needed.
23 Go to commentsI commend Colin Scotts bio All Balls. He was the first Aussie to make it to NFL. But he was poached and did a full apprenticeship at the University of Hawaii. He was 130kgs surfed played 1st grade cricket etc. big guy by normal but not NFL standards and a top athlete. Even then the nfl were picking up Tongans and Samoans for their natural size and explosive power. They want explosive power not cardio from the big boys so a guy like Taniela Tupou would have been good if picked up young enough. He has fast twitch and they’d bulk the little lad up and give him something to do. soccer teams set up academies and look for Over Sara’s talent eg Messi was at Barcelona since a teenager and harry kewell went to Leeds as a teenager like 16 or something.
11 Go to commentsThe article alludes to the fact that this isn’t about picking a captain. But picking a great captain. So who would make for a great All Black captain - not just an obvious or safe shoo-in? I’m not sure Ardie’s the guy and Barret doesn’t stand out either.
23 Go to commentsI 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)
45 Go to comments