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Test sabbatical over as Owen Farrell will take on France in June
Owen Farrell will begin life after Saracens with a Spanish detour before he arrives at Racing 92 as he has been named to play for the World XV coached by Ian Foster in their June 22 match versus France in Bilbao.
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The former England skipper will hope his lengthy stint with his London club lasts as long as possible and only finishes with the June 8 Gallagher Premiership final at Twickenham.
Saracens are currently third on the table with three rounds of regular season matches remaining, starting Friday night away to Bath.
The 32-year-old announced a Test rugby sabbatical away from England duty following the completion of last year’s Rugby World Cup.
However, the 2025 British and Irish Lions tour hopeful is now poised to return to the international arena with an outing versus a French XV eight months after he led the English to a bronze medal final win over Argentina in Paris.
His impending two-year switch to Racing will make him unavailable for an England recall due to the RFU’s rules governing player selection, but the match in Bilbao can serve as a reminder that Farrell still has what it takes to impress against Test-level opposition.
A statement read: “Bilbao-Bizkaia will once again become the epicentre of international rugby in southern Europe this summer. On June 22, the French national team will play a match at San Mames against a World XV team, a fixture that will kick off their summer tour to Argentina.
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“The World XV, led by the former All Blacks coach Ian Foster who will be assisted by Patrice Collazo, continues to recruit world-class stars of the game, and the latest to confirm his presence in the team is the English fly-half Owen Farrell.”
Farrell said: “The prospect of playing for the World XV is incredibly exciting. This will be the first time I will have played for an invitation team such as the World XV.
“Joining up with guys you normally line up against for club or country, such as Semi Radradra, Camille Lopez, Maxime Machenaud, in a less pressurised environment is something I am really looking forward to.
“I am sure the players will want to get out there and play entertainingly and put on an amazing spectacle for the Basque and French people to experience.
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“No doubt the French team will also bring their notorious French flair come matchday too. It should be an awesome week and match in Bilbao.
“My dad Andy played for the World XV in 2006 and combining the history of the World XV with all the players that have represented the team with what will be a very fun week for me on a personal level will make the whole experience very special.”
Foster added: “I am delighted Owen has made himself available to play for the World XV against France in Bilbao. Having a player of Owen’s ability, leadership and experience both at club level for Saracens and international level with England and the British and Irish Lions will be a massive asset to the World XV team.
“Owen has proven to be one of the most influential leaders in world rugby with outstanding contributions both on and off the pitch. Being in the World XV camp for the week will be no different, and I am sure he will be one of the key leaders in setting the tone and driving standards at training and on matchday too.”
- Tickets are on sale through thematchrugby.com, with prices for adults from €35 and children up to 14 years old from €17.50. Discounts will apply for groups of more than 10 people. Tickets are also on sale at El Corte Ingles and www.marcaentradas.com
Comments on RugbyPass
The game was already over leave the bloke alone ….from a Welsh fan 😀👍
2 Go to commentsShamefully the Toulouse players acted like footballers, falling down feigning injury at the slightest knock. About time refs penalised this play acting.
6 Go to commentsAnother non Scot for the anti Scot Townsend. Soon there will be no Scottish born and bred players in the National team.
1 Go to commentsGreat comeback to the playing field by Richie Mo’unga after the loss of his father. A great performance by Richie . I know him well and he is a great guy. On and off the field one of the greatest for the Crusaders. Scott Robertson would have loved him in his All Black’s side. A very missed player and person.
2 Go to commentsYeah nah he comes across as a funny bloke, but that stopped abruptly after the Nutcracker Prince debacle✋
2 Go to commentsAt this point I can’t watch him without thinking he’s a dirty slimebag. He should have been banned for the same amount of time that Quinn was out. It took Tupaea near on a fricking year to get fit enough to play again and his leg will never be the same. The other crap thing is that he was at ABs level and now he has to claw his way back there when he could have had several games under his belt.
4 Go to commentsThe Black Ferns 7’s have been without Captain Sarah Hirini now since Dec 23 in Dubai where she suffered a bad ACL injury - hopefully she is on the road to recovery for Madrid and Paris. Now also have Tyler King and Shiray kaka on the Injured List but the Team still found a way to win in Singapore and claim the overall Title.
1 Go to commentsUtter grub, hope he gets his leg broken. Shocking he is still playing after intentionally breaking quinn tupaeas knee
4 Go to commentsGreat to see NZ 7s teams finally coming into form and playing at the level that is expected of them.
2 Go to commentsChief Cheapshot on the market again.
4 Go to commentsCrusaders went all in to buy Hotham and Kemara staight from Hamilton Boys. Then they picked up Reihana and Hohepa; all have been dropped for superstar Havili, who is a very good fullback, that’s it. Ennor and Goodhue were schoolboy stars too but went backwards at the Crusaders. Maybe they have finally decided to give another poach Levi Aumua the ball?
13 Go to commentsJoe S has some talent to pick from. The Reds loosies look the best in Super? Aus might just give Razor a headache this year. Int. experience v Cantab greenhorn:) Should be fun.
13 Go to commentsEnd to end play, “THE FANS” this game was entertainment of the best. The conditions added to the spectacle.
1 Go to commentsSorry to say, but sadly the sadas were just ordinary and havilli at 10 as an abs selection just won’t cut it. He’s better suited in the centre’s and is a victim of past charge down kicks, he’s too slow under pressure. There’s better talent further north and I don’t mean dmac however I believe razor will sort him out. A feature of his presents on the park is the fact that the guys will follow him.
13 Go to commentsMarler was brilliant throughout both in the scrum and open play. His slap made virtually no contact with Ramos who milked it for a penalty when he could have been a decent sportsman and laughed it off, it was non-violent and shouldn't have been penalised. Smith failed repeatedly to kick when necessary and put up a couple of bombs into the TLS 22 that just handed back possession at key moments to the other side.
3 Go to commentsCros was outstanding and rightly awarded France TVs player of the match award. Mallia was brilliant as usual (the y is below the 6 on a UK keyboard and he deserves better than that). Level also seems to have been scored harshly as he walked the ball into touch under pressure from a Lynagh kick from well outside his own half which should never have led to a 50-22. Agree with BullShark that Dupont, while class at times, seemed to go missing for patches in the second half with props, hookers and wings frequently filling in at 9 as he couldn't get off the deck and up to the next ruck on time. A 7 by his standards at best, his kicking was also too long, too often. Kinghorn's overall contribution was worth well more than a five.
6 Go to commentsThe Harlequins team must be in minus figures. Did the reporter actually watch the game?
6 Go to commentsHow on earth did Walker escape a red card? Not dangerous? Dupont has his face in a mask earlier this season. Shocking decision. What is the point of TMOs? We had the Fassi ‘non-penalty try’ yesterday and now this.
2 Go to commentsCould have been a different result but yet again French tv able to affect the result by not showing the very clear high shot on harlequin centre if this would have been on a French player would have been on screen at least five times
3 Go to commentsAmazing. The losing team’s ratings are higher than the winning team’s. Mallia definitely didn’t deserve a y. What game were you watching? Should have got a w or an x. ADP hardly featured in that second half. At one point I wondered when he’d been subbed. Seems to me as if he gets an automatic 9 just for getting onto the team sheet.
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