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Owen Farrell révèle ses appréhensions avant de rejoindre le Racing 92
Owen Farrell raconte avoir été « nerveux » lors des discussions concernant son souhait de quitter les Saracens, alors que le club de Gallagher Premiership a confirmé son départ mercredi 28 février, un mois après l’officialisation du Racing 92.
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Le club francilien avait en effet annoncé le mois dernier que Farrell s’engagerait avec lui à partir du 1er juillet pour un contrat de deux ans, ce qui le rendrait inéligible pour la sélection anglaise du fait des règles de la Rugby Football Union ne permettant pas aux joueurs qui exercent leur métier à l’étranger d’être sélectionnés dans l’équipe nationale.
Il avait rejoint les Saracens à 14 ans
Owen Farrell, 32 ans, avait déjà annoncé qu’il manquerait le Tournoi des Six Nations de cette année afin de privilégier son bien-être mental et celui de sa famille.
Dans un communiqué publié mercredi, les Saracens ont déclaré que la « chose la plus importante » était que Farrell donne la priorité à son bien-être et à celui de sa famille et qu’ils annonceraient plusieurs façons d’honorer le joueur avant son départ.
« Owen a rejoint les Saracens à l’âge de 14 ans et tout le monde au club sait que nous avons eu le privilège de travailler avec un joueur d’une génération », a déclaré le directeur du rugby des Saracens, Mark McCall. « C’est un cCompétiteur acharné sur le terrain, un coéquipier attentionné et un père de famille en dehors. Owen, c’est le cœur des Saracens depuis ses débuts en seniors. Il a joué un rôle central dans tous les succès du club. »
Bientôt sa 250e sélection avec les Saracens
« C’est difficile de quitter un endroit qui a été ma maison depuis que j’ai 14 ans », a déclaré Farrell dans une interview publiée sur le compte des Saracens sur X (anciennement Twitter).
« La décision a été difficile à prendre, mais elle est passionnante pour notre famille. Nous n’avons jamais envisagé de faire quelque chose de différent auparavant.
« Mais pour la première fois, nous avons pensé qu’il serait bon d’aller vivre quelque chose de différent et le moment nous semble bien choisi.
« Les Saracens est un endroit très difficile à quitter. Le club a été fantastique avec nous, et ça compte beaucoup. J’ai tout aimé dans cet endroit, les gens en particulier, et je serai toujours reconnaissant envers les fans qui nous encouragent chaque week-end. »
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L’international anglais aux 112 sélections rejoindra le club parisien pour un contrat de deux ans et retrouvera son ancien entraîneur, Stuart Lancaster, ainsi que le capitaine sud-africain Siya Kolisi.
Il fera sa 250e apparition sous le maillot des Saracens contre les Harlequins lors du retour du Gallagher Premiership vers la fin du mois de mars.
Les champions de Premiership en titre se battent encore sur deux fronts cette saison, puisqu’ils occupent la quatrième place du championnat et doivent affronter Bordeaux-Begles en avril dans le cadre des huitièmes de finale de l’Investec Champions Cup, ce qui permettrait à Farrell de terminer sa carrière à Saracens en beauté.
Comments on RugbyPass
Jason Ryan knows his craft as forwards coach and I'm sure he’ll hold sway with Scott Robertson of who he feels worthy of selection…his credentials validated when he put a 7xcaps between them front row...Ethan, Samisoni and Lomax on Ellis Park…Go the AB's…
4 Go to commentsFascinating. I’m optimistic about a team coached by Schmiddy, Cron and Parling
7 Go to commentsI think if Blackadder is fit, he has to be in the team. If he isn’t, Finau would be good, and I always thought Akira deserved more of a crack at it. I think he looked better than ppl gave him credit.
4 Go to commentsThanks again Nick and interesting comments from Parling about his lineout preferences. Bearing in mind what Schmidt has said about prioritising Oz based players initially we may not see Skeleton until the EOY trip to Ireland and the UK. To me that suggests that Cale has to be ready by then. In the meantime we get 3 jumpers by having 2 jumping locks and a Wright/Swinton/Holloway/Leota type of guy at 6. I think that he (Parling) would do well to coach Valentini and Wilson to jump more. Surely they could learn more about this?
7 Go to commentsdo what the ABs normally do and cruise around the South Pacific to cherry-pick the contenders
4 Go to commentsGood read, GP comes across as a very knowledgeable guy and pretty decent human to boot! Genuinely leaves me wondering though, how Australia’s second city could be in with a serious possibility of being left without a pro team. Just how does that get to happen? Credit to the team though, they’re performing pretty well under some horrible circumstances and pressure on their livelihoods. Whoever made the call to boot out DR, his staff and the structure/connections/succession plans he had put in place in unbelievably short order needs strung up by their most sensitive body parts. Thought that at the time and of course, events unfolded even worse than feared!
7 Go to commentsCan’t see an appetite to pick Brad Shields for obvious reasons, but Devan Flanders has got to be in with a shout.
4 Go to commentsThe rise of Hunter Paisami! Good read Nick (as ever). Cheers.
7 Go to commentsAs a long term glos supporter saturday was the last straw. Terrible run of results in league since Jan 23. No excuses , there are 3 conclusions Players simply arent good enough. Coaching team not good enough. Or combination of the 2. Either way glos lost pride in what used to be a team others feared.
1 Go to commentsWhat an interesting article, Nick. Late here, so will comment tomorrow am. “In the UK, you might have three whole months when you train set-piece and it’s pissing down. Over here, we very rarely experience games severely affected by weather..” Did you see the Waratahs game on the weekend ? If not have a look at the weather for that struck that one. Drowning would have a been a worry for any player trapped at the bottomof a pile up. Suspect the water polo people might be looking with interest at some of those rugby players after that game😀
7 Go to commentsThis article overlooks how the 9 position has developed to be a playmaker, which these 2 are both excellent at. Defences are so good now there is not the luxury of going 9 -> 10 on every play. Playing “off 9” as they say, has become very commonplace these days, but 10+ years ago you hardly saw this. Boiling the great modern 9s down to box kicking doesn’t do justice to how good the great ones have become. Dupont would be the first choice 10 in most teams in the world, JGP pops up in places you would never expect a 9 to be.
22 Go to commentsThe banning of the croc roll will make carrying the ball into contact far more risky, leading to more kicking, and the change to the Dupont law will mean forwards have to do far more running than they do now. As a result I think there will be a rise of smaller, more mobile forwards who are strong defenders and strong over the ball like Kirifi.
3 Go to commentsWhat does the ownership of the club have to do with the poor performance of the team. It’s not as if he’s coaching them or in any way influencing the composition of the teams. I honestly don’t understand the comment.
1 Go to commentsHe knows his body is not up to the work load of international rugby. The fact that Cane only played only 27 of the 46 games the ABs played while he was officially captain is a telling statistic. And that excludes the time he had out with neck injury. He was never able to put a long enough body of work together to get back to his best without a new injury setting him back. He knows better than anyone that the problem will get worse, not better, given the same workload. Correct decision and good luck to him.
10 Go to commentsWith three clubs it's surely death by oligopoly!😂 I suspect that other french clubs like Montpellier rich enough to compete, they are just missing some vital ingredients. Do you think that keeping an eight player bench but only being allowed to use four would level the playing field a bit? The 12 changes rule sounds disastrous for running rugby.
122 Go to commentsNice article
32 Go to commentsSurely they aren’t that short of 10s in the northern hemisphere?
1 Go to commentsBest wishes to a true warrior who gave everything for his team and country. He was no McCaw but the closest we've had in recent years in terms putting his head into dark places, leading the defensive line and securing the attacking breakdown - the core roles of a modern open side. If only he could have played more tests under Foster and Plumtree with blindsides who fulfilled their core roles. 2027 was always going to be a long shot. Hopefully Papalii fulfils the promise of 2021 and late 2022 and/or Lakai turns out to be as good as he looks.
10 Go to commentsFair play to him. A lot of exciting talent coming up in the loose forward position, can’t wait to see the next generation.
10 Go to commentsSam wants to focus on his family and learning how to tackle legally…what’s Japanese for ‘bend at the waist’?
10 Go to comments