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Owen Farrell can’t wait to finally play a Test match with Marcus Smith following the many months of hype about the pair playing together for England in the Autumn Nations Series. Smith burst on the Test scene during the summer series under Eddie Jones and with George Ford having fallen down the pecking order, the path is clear for the international level rookie to pair up with the seasoned Farrell.
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Jones had hoped to give this new 10/12 combination the first outing versus Tonga last weekend but that plan was scuppered by Smith being unable to train fully until Friday, by which stage Farrell had been pulled from the team after he tested positive for Covid, a result later proven to be a false positive.
With Farrell back at the team hotel, Smith came off the England bench to guide them to a comprehensive 69-3 drubbing of the Tongans with a late scoring flourish. However, both players are now in harness and ready to take on the Wallabies this Saturday from the start at Twickenham in what will be their first time playing together at Test level.
“Marcus runs the attack,” said Farrell when asked how things were shaping up with England alongside the Harlequins talisman. “He has been brilliant so far. He has been playing unbelievably well and he has come in here and put his stamp on it. He has been running the show in terms of attack. Obviously, he was disappointed to pick up a bit of a niggle last week but he has been flying this week in training.
“He is a fantastic player and he has been showing that for a good while now. It has been good working together in camp. We have worked together before and to build up a bit more of a relationship over the last few weeks has been good. Now we are looking forward to putting it out there on the field.
Kiwi and Aussie partnerships of old in the conversation as England insist Smith/Farrell at 10/12 is the real deal…#England #ENGvAUS #AutumnNationsSeries #Wallabieshttps://t.co/7en473mqWI
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) November 12, 2021
“It’s not up to me (to help Marcus), I am here if Marcus needs me. Hopefully, I can help him but we will see. He has got a brilliant head on his shoulders anyway. He loves his rugby, he loves chatting about rugby, loves the game so I enjoy talking to him about that sort of stuff. It has only been good from where I have seen it.”
With Ellis Genge joining Joe Marler in getting ruled out to face the Wallabies due to Covid, Farrell reflected on his own situation last weekend where he was ruled out of the match versus Tonga before being allowed to come out of isolation after it was determined that his test result was a false positive.
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“I had a bit of it last week. It is very disappointing as an individual, especially having to isolate and be on your own. You can go through different emotions. But as a team, we had to go through the testing this morning [Friday] which thankfully is all good so far and now we are preparing as normal and hopefully, we can make sure when Ellis is watching at home he sees a good team performance.
“I was excited last week to be back at Twickenham in front of 80,000 people. I was buzzing to play in front of it all week and then to not have the chance was disappointing but with all the testing that was going on in the background, I knew I stood a chance for this week so I am thankful that I am here.
“It wasn’t too bad when I was watching it. I was probably a bit disappointed beforehand obviously that I was missing a Test match, especially being back at home in from of 80,000 people for the first time in a long time. But during the game I was enjoying it, enjoying watching the lads putting it out there on the field.
“It [the disruption] is a little bit frustrating. It’s more frustrating if you are the one that has had the test that is positive but at the same time it is part of what we are doing at the moment, we have got to be able to deal with it, we have got to be able to adapt and so far the lads have been brilliant at that. You saw it last week and now twice this week. We’re looking forward to showing that it is not touching us in terms of our mentality hopefully.”
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Saturday is set to be Farrell’s 100th Test match appearance (93 England games and six for the Lions so far), but he will leave the milestone celebrations to Maro Itoje, who is making his 50th appearance for England. “He will lead it out,” said Farrell when asked what the pre-match plan is.
“I didn’t celebrate my 50th cap with the other Test matches in it, it was always England. So that’s how we have been looking at it here. Maro has got his 50th cap for England this week which is an achievement that we will celebrate, so looking forward to doing that.”
It has been an incredible week for the 21-year-old Rodd who started it at Sale and will end it as the starting England loosehead versus Australia#England #ENGvAUS #AutumnNationsSeries #Wallabies #Sharks https://t.co/Ay3cxcMFNK
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) November 12, 2021
Comments on RugbyPass
No surprise there. How hard can it be to pick a ball off the ground and chuck it to a mate? 😂
2 Go to commentsSometimes people just like a moan mate!
1 Go to commentsexcellent idea ! rugby needs this 💪
9 Go to comments9 Brumbies! What a joke! The best performing team in Oz! Ditch Skelton for Swain or Neville. Ryan Lonergan ahead of McDermott any day! Best selection bolter is Toole … amazing player
12 Go to commentsI like this, but ultimately rugby already has enough trophies. Trying to make more games “consequential" might prove to be a fools errand, although this is a less bad idea than some others. Minor quibble with the title of the article; it isn’t very meaningful to say the boks are the unofficial world champions when it would be functionally impossible for the Raeburn trophy not to be held by the world champions. There’s a period of a few months every 4 years when there is no “unofficial” world champion, and the Raeburn trophy is held by the actual world champions.
9 Go to commentsIts a great idea but one that I dont think will have a lot of traction. It will depend on the prestige that they each hold but if you can do that it would be great. When Japan beat the Boks (my team) I was absolutely devestated but I wont deny the great game they played that day. We were outclassed and it was one of the best games of rugby I have seen. Using an idea like this you might just give the the underdog teams more of an opportunity to beat the big teams and I can absolutely see it being a brilliant display of rugby. They beat us because they planned for that game. It was a great moment for Japan. This way we can remove the 4 year wait and give teams something to aim for outside of World Cup years.
9 Go to commentsHi, Dave here. Happy to answer questions 🥰
9 Go to commentsDon’t think that headline is accurate. It’s great to see Aus doing better but I’m not sure they’ve shown much threat to the top of the table. They shouldn’t be inflating wins against the lousy Highlanders and Crusaders either.
3 Go to commentsSuch a shame Roigard and Aumua picked up long term injuries, probably the two form players in the comp. Also, pretty sure Clarke Dermody isn’t their coach. Got it half right though.
3 Go to commentsOh the Aussie media, they never learn. At least Andrew Kellaway is like “Woah, yeah it’s great, but settle down there guys” having endured years of the Aussie media, fans, and often their players getting ahead of themselves only to fall flat on their faces. Have the “We'll win the Bledisloe for sure this year!” headlines started yet? It’s simple to see what’s going on. The Aussie teams are settled, they didn't lose any of their major players overseas. The Crusaders and Chiefs lost key experienced All Blacks, and Razor in the Crusaders case, and clearly neither are anywhere near as strong as last year (The Canes and Blues would probably be 3rd & 4th if they were). The Highlanders are annually average, even more so post-Aaron Smith and a big squad clean out. The two teams at the top? The two nz sides with largely the same settled roster as last year, except Ardie Savea for the Canes. They’ve both got far better coaches now too. If the Aussies are going to win the title, this is the year the kiwi sides will be weakest, so they better take their chance.
3 Go to commentsThe World Cup has to be the gold standard, line in the sand. 113 teams compete for what is the opportunity to make the pool stages, and then the knockout games for the trophy. The concept is sound. This must have been the rationale when the World Cup was created, surely? But I’m all for Looking forward and finding new ways for the SH to dominate the NH into the future. The autumn series needs a change up. Let’s start by having the NH teams come south every odd year for the Autumn/Spring series games?
9 Go to commentsWhat’ll happen when the AI models of the future go back in time and try to destroy the AI models of the past standing in their way of certain victory?
41 Go to commentsThanks, Nick. We (Seanny Maloney, Brett and I) just discussed Charlie as a potential Wallaby No 8, and wondered if he has truly realised how big he is in contact (and whether he can add 5 kg w/o slowing down). Your scouting report confirms our suspicions he has the materiel. No one knows if he has the mentality (as Johann van Graan said this week about CJ, Duane and Alfie B) to carry 10-15 times a game.
57 Go to commentsHe would be a great player for the Stormers, Dobbo should approach the guy.
3 Go to commentsGood article. A few years back when he was playing for the Cheetahs, he was a quiet standout for exactly the seasons stated here. I occasionally get to see his games in the UK, and he has become a more complete player and in many ways like an Irish player. His work ethic is so suitable to the Leinster game. I wonder if Rassie would have him listed somewhere.
3 Go to commentsResults probably skewed by the fact that a few clubs have foreign fly halves in their 30s, but most teams have young English scrum halves. Results also likely to be skewed by the fact that many teams rely on centres and fullbacks to provide depth at 10, whereas they will need to stock a large number of specialist backup 9s.
2 Go to commentsI really get the sense that when all is said and done, the path of least resistance will end up being a merger of Wasps & Worcester that essentially kills the Worcester Warriors brand and sees Wasps permanently playing at Sixways. I’m not saying that’s what should happen or what I want to happen. I just think it’s the easiest rout to take and therefore, will be what happens. Wasps will definitely return to play first, and I suppose it all depends on if they can find support at Sixways. If people turn up and support Wasps in that community, at that ground, I bet they drop the Sevenoaks plan and just remain at Sixways. Under the radar but not totally unrelated, it looks as though London Irish are going to be brought back from the dead by a German consortium and look set to return, likely to the remade Championship. It’s set to have 12 clubs next season with 14 in 2025/26, what do you want to bet those extra 2 are Wasps and London Irish?
3 Go to commentsThe shoulder is a “joint” with multiple bones. You don’t “fracture” a shoulder, you fracture any one or more of the bones that make up a shoulder.
2 Go to commentsOh dear, bones too suspect to continue?
2 Go to commentsBold headline considering the Canes and Blues are 1 and 2 and the Brumbies were soundly beaten by the Chiefs and Blues. Biggest surprise is Rebels 4 Crusaders 12 - no one saw that coming. If Aus are improving that’s great 👍
3 Go to comments