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Owen Farrell's Lions chances have nose-dived
By Ian Cameron
Owen Farrell’s aspirations of making a fourth British & Irish Lions tour appear to be on shaky ground as injuries and his new club’s patchy form cast shadows over his selection for next summer’s expedition to Australia.
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Despite crossing the Channel to join Racing 92 and being ineligible for England, the 33-year-old has remained a favourite to be selected for the tour down under by head coach Andy Farrell, his father.
Farrell’s first season in the Top 14 has been a bit of a mixed bag.
He has started eight of Racing’s eleven league matches under Stuart Lancaster but injury has kicked the brakes on his recent involvement.
His struggles came to a head against Pau, where he was hauled off after just 32 minutes, shortly after which Racing announced that the 33-year-old had gone under the surgeon’s knife for a groin issue, ruling him out for several weeks at least.
This setback will likely see him miss the opening salvo of Racing’s Champions Cup campaign at the very least, which kicks off next weekend against Harlequins at Stade Dominique Duvauchelle in the Parisian suburbs.
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The problem for Farrell is if he’s starved of top-level Champions Cup games for Racing 92, then it becomes harder to justify his inclusion. He needs to return to European action as a matter of urgency, preferably in a Racing 92 side that goes on a decent run in the competition, which is far from guaranteed given their Top 14 struggles.
What also may have hurt his chances is that due to injury he has handed over club-kicking duties to halfback Nolann Le Garrec, and that was prior to surgery. Farrell’s goalkicking has traditionally been one of his strongest suits, but if he isn’t kicking for his club regularly later in the season, it will leave another awkward question mark hanging over the ex-Saracens man.
The time frame for Farrell’s return to the fray remains uncertain. His recovery will be closely shepherded as Racing look to restore him to action as fast as possible. Notably, he’s currently been listed alongside Demba Bamba and Hassane Kolingar as a long-term injury concerns by Midi Olympic.
Racing’s indifferent form certainly doesn’t help his Lions ambitions either. Like it or not, whether or not your club is competing for silverware at the end of the season is very much part of Test selection arithmetic. Although there is plenty of rugby to be played, Racing – who are currently languishing in eighth – don’t look like Top 14 title contenders.
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Against this, Farrell does some major pluses riding in his favour.
Firstly, he has enormous credit in the bank as one of the most decorated and experienced flyhalf at Andy Farrell’s disposal. With the retirement of Johnny Sexton and Dan Biggar, only Finn Russell comes close to matching Farrell for out-of-out experience.
Secondly, assuming Farrell Snr takes three flyhalves [and that’s a big assumption], while Marcus Smith and Russell are shoe-ins, is there an obvious third-choice flyhalf? The Lions’ tour might have come too soon for Scotland’s break-out star Tom Jordan, while Ireland are yet to settle on a flyhalf. Rookie Sam Prendergast has impressed this autumn and seems to have eclipsed Jack Crowley in the pecking order, but he’s just three caps into his Test career.
Meanwhile, Wales’ Sam Costelow and injury-prone Gareth Anscombe both feel like distant longshots, not least given the national side’s dire 2024.
Thirdly, Farrell Jnr is a proven option at 12, which makes him an attractive pick if the Lions want to play with an additional kicking option in a ‘second flyhalf’ backline, as favoured in two of three Tests on the 2017 tour of New Zealand, where Farrell played outside Johnny Sexton.
Farrell’s hopes hinge on his recovery from injury and rediscovering the form that once made him a talisman for Saracens and England. For now, his priority is clawing his way back to fitness and getting some solid game time for his Parisian paymasters.