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Owen Farrell on his shot clock fiasco; breaking England points record
New all-time England record points scorer Owen Farrell has reacted to his 64th-minute shot clock gaffe in Lille. An 18th-minute penalty kick had allowed the skipper to surpass the 12-year-old points record that had stood since the 2011 retirement of Jonny Wilkinson, but an attempted kick 46 minutes later also saw him create history by becoming the first player to be beaten by the shot clock.
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England were trailing 11-17 and scrambling to avoid a shock Rugby World Cup pool defeat to Samoa when Farrell placed the ball on the tee in front of the posts just outside the 22.
He had a full minute from pointing at the posts to make his kick. However, he got lost in the moment and only struck the ball between the upright after his 60 seconds were up.
Rather than signalling three points for England, referee Andrew Brace instead awarded a scrum to Samoa and with Kyle Sinckler then infringing at the set-piece, the six-point gap remained intact.
In the end, Farrell went on to score the winning points, converting Danny Care’s 73rd-minute try against a then 14-man Samoa who had suffered a yellow card after Tumua Manu had needlessly illegally collided with Farrell.
Even then, England were left reliant on a last-gasp tackle from Care on Neria Fomai just metres from the line with 75 seconds remaining to ensure the one-point victory for Steve Borthwick’s already-qualified quarter-final team and save Farrell’s shot clock blushes.
“I was unaware, I didn’t see the clock,” explained Farrell in the post-game aftermath. “It was above where I was picking my target and I obviously got lost a little bit in the kick, but that’s not good enough. Thankfully, I am glad for the team’s sake it didn’t cost us. Hopefully, that mistake doesn’t happen again.”
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Switching to the England points record he wrested from Wilkinson early in the game, Farrell added: “I’ve not got too many thoughts. It’s a massive honour to be even in contention, to be around long enough to be in contention.
“The lads have just given me a nice presentation – a framed picture and a gift – in the changing rooms which was nice, but my focus has fully been on us this week and it will probably be on us over the next couple of days as well. It might be something I will look back on and appreciate more later on, but having said that it is a huge honour.”
Asked for thoughts on Farrell beating Wilkinson’s points mark, Borthwick said: “It’s testament to a man who has dedicated himself to being the very, very best he can be. The best player he can be, the best leader he can be the best person around the squad and he is an incredible role model.
“I was chatting with a couple of people yesterday [Friday] and their young children, I asked who do you look up to most? It was this man [Farrell]. For this guy to have an impact on so many lives, he is such a great role model.
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“It is a privilege for me as coach to be able to work with him and hopefully there will be many more times he will be in that England shirt and continue to play as well as he does.”
Comments on RugbyPass
Who listens to this retard? He was a massive liability as a player but obviously a media sensation
40 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.
40 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.
39 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.
1 Go to commentsLet’s not forget about Ardie Savea just yet.
4 Go to commentsThe URC and the Euro Championscup can’t run at the same time, basically dilutes both competitions.
1 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.
4 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 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.
4 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.
40 Go to commentsTamati Tua. …the Taniwha NPC midfielder. Ollie Sapsford, Hawkes Bay NPC midfielder…doing well
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