1
Owen Farrell 'very close' to signing two-year Racing 92 deal – report
Hopes that Owen Farrell will return to the international fold with England later this year are reportedly poised to be dashed by him committing to a two-year deal to play his club rugby in the French Top 14.
ADVERTISEMENT
The Test-level skipper has taken a sabbatical from Steve Borthwick’s squad for the upcoming Guinness Six Nations tournament.
However, on foot of Borthwick explaining on Thursday at Twickenham why the Test break for Farrell had come about, it has now emerged that the 32-year-old could soon make himself ineligible for an England comeback.
Rather than stay on at Saracens for the 2024/25 season, Midi Olympique, the French rugby newspaper, have reported that Farrell is considering a deal to quit Mark McCall’s side and instead join ex-England boss Stuart Lancaster at Racing 92.
Farrell is out of contract at the end of the 2023/24 season with the London club that he has represented for his entire professional career.
Lancaster joined Racing last summer from Leinster and the coach is now looking for Farrell to join a club that already has the Rugby World Cup-winning Siya Kolisi on its roster along with Henry Arundell, one of Farrell’s England teammates at France 2023.
The Midi Olympique report read: “Racing 92 are on the verge of hitting hard in the transfer market. According to our sources, England fly-half Owen Farrell would indeed be very close to committing for the next two years with the Hauts-de-Seine entity, the current leader of the Top 14.
ADVERTISEMENT
“With a profile like Farrell’s, the club of Jacky Lorenzetti and Laurent Travers proves, only a few months after signing the captain of the South African Siya Kolisi, that it remains attractive to say the least in the eyes of the big names of the international circuit.
“In support of Antoine Gibert, Tristan Tedder and Martin Meliande, and alongside Nolann Le Garrec at the back, Farrell (32 years old, 112 caps and 1,237 points scored with England) will bring a little more depth to a team whose last major title dates back to the spring of 2016.
“By grafting the talent of Owen Farrell to his squad, manager Stuart Lancaster is now taking advantage of the events, assumed or suffered, that have made the news of the Ile-de-France club over the past two seasons.
“In the Hauts-de-Seine, the departure to Bath of Finn Russell, one of the highest-paid players in the last Top 14, has already made a considerable place in the club’s wage bill, as has the unwanted one of Virimi Vakatawa in England (he now plays for Bristol).
ADVERTISEMENT
“And that’s not all: in the 92nd, the probable career end of the French international Bernard Le Roux, victim of a series of concussions, combined with the possible departure of the Argentine international Juan Imhoff (35 years old) as well as the recruitment of several players in the process of development (the Clermont hooker Robin Couly, for example) have also allowed the Ile-de-France leaders to limit a salary cap set at €10.7million per Top 14 club.
“On the subject of the salary cap and these honourable constraints, it should be noted, finally, that Siya Kolisi’s remuneration would not exceed €400,000 per year.
“At a time when competition from the Japanese League One is becoming more insistent, Farrell’s imminent arrival in the Top 14 proves that it is still very far from having given up its title of ‘best league in the world’.”
The Alex Sanderson verdict on the winter form of George Ford at Sale just four weeks out from the start of the Guinness Six Nations with England. #GallagherPrem #SALvNEW #GuinnessSixNations pic.twitter.com/CDbTLIwHQm
— RugbyPass (@RugbyPass) January 5, 2024
Comments on RugbyPass
Why cant I watch Rugby games please?
1 Go to commentsBeautiful shot from Finau, end of story. Gutted for Shaun Stevenson though.
4 Go to commentsThe Chiefs definitely didn’t win ugly. They had the superior scrum, a dominant lineout, and their defence was excellent once the Waratahs scored their two tries (thanks to some lucky refereeing calls mind you). They put pressure on the Waratahs lineout throughout the game, and the mind boggles as to why the referee did not award a yellow card or a penalty try against the Waratahs for repeated scrum infringements on their own try line before Narawa’s first try. And the Chiefs were slick with their passing and running angles on attack. It was a dominant performance all round, even with many questionable refereeing decisions.
1 Go to commentsWasnt late. Ref 2 assistants andTMO all saw it so who are you to say it was?
4 Go to commentsAre the Brumbies playing the Blues twice in a row?
4 Go to commentsBig difference from the Saders. Forwards really muscled up and laid a solid platform. Scooter brought some steel and I liked the loosie combination. Newell has been rather disappointing this season but stepped up big time - happy also to see Franks dot down. He should do that more often! Reihana had a good game and there seems to be more flair and invention with him in the saddle. McNicoll plays well from the back and is reliable plus inventive when he joins the line. Keep it up chaps!
3 Go to comments🤦♂️🤣 who cares who’s the best . All I know is the All Blacks have the star coach but have few star players now …
31 Go to commentsJe suis sûr que Farrell est impatient de jouer avec Lopez et Machenaud et d’être entraîné par Collazo… 🤭
1 Go to commentsAn on field red (aka a full red) in SRP must surely carry a bigger suspension than a red card given by the bunker as that carries a 20 minute team punishment. Had Damon Murphy abdicated his responsibility as a ref and issued both Drua players a yellow, which would have been upgraded to a 20 minute red by the bunker, that would have killed Australia and New Zealand’s push for the 20 minute red to be trialled globally from July this year.
11 Go to commentsEver so often you all post a Danny Care story that isn’t the announcement that he has finally re-signed for one more, victory tour season at Quins and I’m just like, “well you fooled me again!” My absolute favorite player ever, we need to make his final year at the Stoop (and Twickers) official already. I know he supposedly snubbed France but I won’t feel better until he signs.
1 Go to commentslate hit what late hit it wasn’t at all late and can clearly see he was committed before the tackle
4 Go to commentsChristian Lio -Willies 2 try perfomance was a standout. As was captain Scott Barrett. Up front was where the boys won it.They are a great team and players. Fantastic Crusaders , you can keep going.
3 Go to commentsI don't know how the locals feel about that? I guess if you call yourselves the Worcester Wasps that might be appease. But really we need more teams in the Premiership in my view so they are not padding it out as they are at the moment. It might curtail so many players going abroad as well
5 Go to commentsNZ 😭😭😭is certainly rivaling England for best whingers cup!😭😭😭 !!!
31 Go to commentsYup. New Zealand won 3 out of 10 world cups played. SA 4 out of 8 attempts 30 Vs 50 per cent.🤔🤔
31 Go to commentsShould've done this years ago. Change Saturday kick off times to around 11am. Up and off and back home before 3pm, limit travel time too. Allows players to actually do something else with their Saturday that's family oriented or being rugby fans they could ‘watch’ pro rugby. Increases crowds etc. How can anyone that enjoys grassroots and pro rugby have to choose between the two on Saturdays?
9 Go to commentsI bet he inspired those supporters just as much.
1 Go to commentsBen Smith Springboks living rent free in his head 😊😂
67 Go to commentsGood to hear he would like to play the game at the highest level, I hadn’t been to sure how much of a motivator that was before now. Sadly he’s probably chosen the rugby club to go to. Try not to worry about all the input about how you should play rugby Joey and just try to emulate what you do on the league field and have fun. You’ll limit your game too much (well not really because he’s a standard athlete like SBW and he’ll still have enough) if you’re trying to make sure you can recycle the ball back etc. On the other hard, you can totally just try and recycle by looking to offload any and everywhere if you’re going to ground 😋
1 Go to commentsThis just proves that theres always a stat and a metric to use to justify your abilities and your success. Ben did it last week by creating an imaginary competition and now you did the same to counter his argument and espouse a new yardstick for success. Why not just use the current one and lets say the Boks have won 4 world cups making them the most successful world cup team. Outside of the world cup the All Blacks are the most successful team winning countless rugby championships and dominating the rankings with high win percentages. Over the last 4 years statistically the Irish are the best having the highest win rate and also having positive records against every tier 1 side. The most successful Northern team in the game has been England with a world cup title and the most six nations titles in history. The AB’s are the most dominant team in history with the highest win rate and 3 world cups. Lets not try to reinvent the wheel. Just be honest about the actual stats and what each team has been good at doing and that will be enough to define their level of success.
31 Go to comments