Owen Farrell responds to transfer speculation after retaining England captaincy - Ruck
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Owen Farrell responds to transfer speculation after retaining England captaincy

17 January 2023
Rugby Rucker


Owen Farrell has left the door open for a potential blockbuster transfer to rugby league, but will not be making to the switch until at least 2027,

New England head coach Steve Borthwick said yesterday that it is important to recognise how special Farrell is after naming him as captain for the Six Nations.

Despite the scrutiny on Farrell, who is currently banned for a high tackle, Borthwick has no doubt he remains the right man to lead the team.

He said, ‘It’s important to recognize everything Owen does, and has done, for English rugby.’

He added on the Rugby Union Weekly podcast, ‘The first senior game of rugby I saw him in was at Saracens, a pre-season game when he on the bench at 17 years old. He was desperate to get on and play and help his team.

‘I sensed from that moment this guy is special. Right now he is unable to play and that is gutting for him. He understands why that is the case but anybody who knows Owen knows he will work his socks off to get it right.

‘So whether that is goal-kicking, tackling or leadership, he will work his socks off to get things right.’

Owen Farrell future secured:

A rumour linking England and Saracens fly-half with a more to rugby league side Wigan Warriors was jumpstarted once again last month.

One nosey supporter looking at Companies House noticed and tweeted: “Interesting how Owen Farrell has just changed his business account correspondence to a Wigan address and also recently set up ‘Ancient and Loyal limited’ and ‘A&L Ventures ltd’

Ancient and Loyal is the motto for the town of Wigan, which is where the 31-year-old began his rugby education 20 years ago.

Farrell is thought to be under contract at Saracens until at least 2024, making any return to the North West not imminent.

RUCK sources suggest that Farrell hasn’t completely shut the door on switching codes, but wants to stay at Saracens for the foreseeable future.

He remains committed to England and has the ambition to play for his country once again at the 2027 Rugby World Cup when he will be 35.

For context, Johnny Sexton, who will be 38 by the time the 2023 Rugby World Cup kicks off, remains the first choice number 10 for Ireland.

Not Another Rugby Podcast:

Three players Owen Farrell hates:


England fly-half Owen Farrell is never afraid of sharing an opinion or two – especially when it’s about someone he doesn’t particularly like.

#1. Dave Attwood

Former England lock Attwood has opened up on the latest RugbyPass Offload about his ongoing rivalry with Owen Farrell.

The Bath lock won the last of his 24 caps for England back in 2016, which could have a lot to do with his relationship with the current England captain.

He revealed: “On the pitch, I struggle a lot with Owen Farrell. We just don’t see eye to eye on a lot of things,

“He hates me with a passion. Despite my earthy roots, he thinks I am a posh c***. He hates that. I bagged rugby league once jovially. I was saying it to take the piss kind of thing, ‘a bloody sport for the peasants’. He f**kin’ hated it.”

“He had a bit of a shout at me and went off to the toilet and I followed him.

“We all had a drink or two after the game but we didn’t need to get carried away with this. I was in the urinal behind the door and he was three or four down and as I got in his dad walked in as well, he was coaching at the time. He was, ‘I don’t want to fuckin’ hear it’ or something like that and as he walked out he went to open the door and slam it into the back of me. There was like a stop on the floor so it hit the stop and almost clocked him back…

“We never really addressed it after that. That was where it started and it was like a drunken little bit of argy that went too far. He is an incredibly competitive athlete and he is also very f**kin’ good, he has got high standards. He is a very competitive athlete and in order to be that good, you have to flirt on the wrong side of competitive.

“So whenever we play each other there is always some element in the game where one of us is running at the other one or we are trying to bang each other. There always seems to be an element of that to it. I am sure he is like, I don’t even know that Dave is playing.”

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