Owen Farrell

Owen Farrell
Farrell in December 2015
Birth name Owen Andrew Farrell
Date of birth (1991-09-24) 24 September 1991
Place of birth Billinge, Lancashire
Height 6 ft 1 in (1.86 m)
Weight 15 st 2 lb; 212 lb (96 kg)[1]
School St. John Fisher Catholic High School
St George's School
University University of Hertfordshire[2]
Notable relative(s) Andy Farrell (father)
Liam Farrell (cousin)
Sean O'Loughlin (uncle)
Keiron O'Loughlin (grandfather)
Rugby union career
Position(s) fly-half, centre
Senior career
Years Team Apps (Points)
2008–
2009–11		 Saracens
→ Bedford (loan)		 157
4		 (1,574)
(11)
Correct as of 16 October 2017
National team(s)
Years Team Apps (Points)

2011–12
2012–
2013, 2017		 England U18
England U20
England
British and Irish Lions
7
61
4
(10)
(690)
(31)
Correct as of 23 June 2018

Owen Andrew Farrell (born 24 September 1991) is an English professional rugby union player, currently playing for Premiership Rugby side Saracens.

His father is Andy Farrell, who played both rugby league and rugby union for England. His preferred position is fly-half, but he now plays at inside centre internationally.

Early life

Owen Andrew Farrell was born on the 24th of September 1991 in Billinge Higher End, Greater Manchester. He began playing rugby league in his hometown at the age of eight for Wigan St Patricks.[3] When his father Andy signed for Saracens in 2005, his family moved to Harpenden where Owen at the age of 13 or 14 was introduced to rugby union for the first time.[4]

He has two younger sisters, Elleshia and Gracie and one younger brother, Gabriel.

Club career

Farrell held the record of youngest player ever to appear in English professional rugby union after playing for Saracens 11 days after his 17th birthday, in a 26–17 home defeat against Llanelli Scarlets in the EDF Energy Cup on 5 October 2008,[5] until this record was broken in November 2009 by George Ford of Leicester Tigers.

In the 2010–11 season, Farrell signed for Bedford Blues on loan. However he returned to Saracens and was pivotal in the 2010–11 Aviva Premiership Final, kicking five penalties and converting James Short's try, ending with a personal haul of 17 points in the 22–18 victory over reigning champions Leicester Tigers.

In the 2014–15 season, Farrell won the man of the match award in the Premiership Final, scoring a try and kicking a further ten points. Saracens went on to win the final 28–16.

The following season, Farrell won the Fans' Player of the Season for Saracens, and kicked all 21 points against Racing 92 in the 2016 European Rugby Champions Cup Final, which Saracens won. He subsequently was awarded the Top Points Scorer award with 129 points scored in the tournament.[6]

In 2017, Farrell overtook Glen Jackson as the Saracens' all-time leading points scorer, having scored 1548 points in his career so far. In May 2017, Owen helped Saracens to a second successive European Champions Cup, and was named European Player of the Year.[7][8]

International career

England

Early Career

He was given his first call-up to the England Elite Player Squad when Stuart Lancaster selected him in his squad for the 2012 Six Nations Championship.[9] Farrell was the youngest player in the squad, being only 20 years old at the time.

He made his debut on 4 February 2012 against Scotland, starting at inside centre next to his Saracens teammates Brad Barritt and Charlie Hodgson. He kicked two penalties and a conversion, but also missed two tough penalties from around 50 metres. His next match, against Italy, saw him produce a faultless kicking display, kicking four penalties and a conversion. In the next match, against Wales, Farrell played at fly-half for the first time in an England shirt after Charlie Hodgson sustained a finger injury in the week leading up to the Wales game.[10] Once again his goal-kicking was impressive, missing just one kick out of five, but he was replaced by Toby Flood later in the game after appearing to injure his leg after a clearance kick. He then played against France and Ireland. Farrell kicked well in the Ireland game, only missing one conversion. He finished the competition with 63 points from five games.

The 2012 summer tour of South Africa saw Farrell get selected again. He played all of the warm-up game against the Barbarians and scored a respectable 17 points in a game that England won comfortably. Farrell again played all through the first match against South Africa, where England lost 22–17 in a tight game. He kicked all four of his penalties but missed a conversion. He came on as a substitute in the second test; he scored no points and couldn't help England avoid defeat for a second time. Farrell had two spells on the pitch in the third test; he scored two penalties in a tight game that ended 14–14, twice attempting to score his first drop goal but missing each time. He ended the series with 18 points from three appearances.

Farrell played his first game in the autumn test series as a substitute and scored a conversion. On 1 December 2012, he started in England's game against New Zealand and scored a total of 17 points in helping England to a record-breaking victory; it was their greatest-ever margin of victory over the All Blacks.

He was nominated for IRB Player of the Year, but lost out to the New Zealand stand-off Dan Carter.

Farrell started in the Calcutta Cup match against Scotland, only missing one kick in a near-faultless display. He set up one try and assisted England to a strong start in their Six Nations campaign.[11] He was also nominated the RBS Six Nations man of the match for his performance.[12]

After a break from English rugby due to the Lions tour, Farrell returned to England for the 2013 QBE autumn internationals. He played the full 80 minutes of the match against the Wallabies, kicking two penalties (but also missing three with one hitting the post), two conversions and scoring his debut England try, breaking through a gap in the Australian line of defence and touching down under the posts.[13] His try proved to be the deciding score, as England went on to win 20–13.

2015-2016

Farrell was ruled out of the entire 2015 Six Nations competition with a serious knee injury.[14] However, after recovering from his injury Farrell was picked to train in the England camp ahead of the England 2015 World Cup. He went on to start in England's first World Cup warm-up match on 15 August, against France, scoring two out of three conversions and consequently helping England win the game 19–14. Farrell was picked by Lancaster as one of two fly-halves in the 31-man World Cup squad.

Farrell came on as a replacement for George Ford in the opening match of the world cup against Fiji, a 35-11 win where Farrell didn't miss any kicks. Farrell played for the full 80 minutes in England's second 2015 World Cup match, a 25-28 loss to Wales, scoring 20 points after failing to miss any kicks for the second straight match. He subsequently kept his place to face Australia the following weekend, on 2rd October 2015, which England went on to lose 13-33 after Farrell was sin-binned in the 70th minute. This was the first time that England failed to make the playoffs of a Rugby World Cup, having lost to both Wales and Australia now. Farrell started at inside centre in England's final pool match, a 60-3 win over Uruguay. Farrell was subbed off for Jonathan Joseph in the 59th minute after missing two of his six kicks.

In January 2016, after his fine displays for Saracens, Farrell was selected in the first squad of new England head coach Eddie Jones. With injuries to Henry Slade and Manu Tuilagi leaving few choices at inside centre, Farrell was selected at 12 in Jones' first two matches, away to Scotland and Italy respectively. George Ford became a regular starter at 10 in Farrell's place. He was selected as one of England's vice-captains for the Six Nations, along with Mike Brown and Billy Vunipola, under Dylan Hartley's captaincy. In the first two matches, Farrell contributed 22 points including a try against Italy, and assumed the captaincy when Hartley was substituted late on.

Farrell went on to start at inside centre in all five of England's games during the Six Nations tournament, winning his first major international trophy as part of England's Grand Slam-winning side. Farrell finished the tournament as the leading scorer with 69 points, bringing his personal tally for England to 412 and making him the second-highest points scorer in the history of the England national team, with only Jonny Wilkinson having scored more.

In the summer of 2016, England embarked on a three-match series in Australia. Farrell was initially picked to start at fly-half for the first test, however, he was soon reverted to inside centre with Ford assuming the No.10 shirt. England would go on to win the series 3–0, with Farrell playing a pivotal role, being named man of the match in the third test and scoring 66 points on tour.[15] Owen was nominated for the six-man shortlist for the 2016 World Player of the Year Award for the second time in his career, alongside his Saracens teammates Billy Vunipola and Maro Itoje.

2017-2018

Farrell played all 80 minutes every test in the 2017 Six Nations Championship and helped England retaining the Six Nations title despite missing out the Grand Slam after losing the final game to Ireland. The highlight of Farrell's 2017 Six Nations was on 11th March 2017 when he scored 26 points against Scotland in a 61-21 win for England.

Farrell had a huge workload in the 2018 Six Nations Championship and played in every minute of the competition. Farrell scored a try against Italy on 4th February 2018 and also set one up for first-five George Ford. Disappointingly however, Farrell only kicked 5/8 of his goals against Italy, which disallowed England from putting 50 points on Italy, leaving England to win 46-15. On 24th February, Farrell scored all of England's points against Scotland, including a try. This was not enough however, with Farrell's second try of the match disallowed. Scotland went on to upset England 25-13, with Farrell's game not doing enough to get England a win.

On 10th March 2018, Farrell captained England for the first time in his career when they faced France in Stade de France in Paris. Farrell did not miss any kicks against France in the match and defended well, but England lost 22-16 due to giving away penalties to French scrum-half Maxime Machenaud who managed to convert them into points. Farrell later admitted to media that England's lack of discipline cost them the test.

After England Captain Dylan Hartley sustained another concussion in 2018 and subsequently ruled out of England's three-test series against South Africa, Farrell was promoted to Captain in Hartley's absence.

British and Irish Lions

Farrell was selected as part of the British and Irish Lions squad for the 2013 tour to Australia.[16] Farrell started for the Lions in Hong Kong on 1 June against the Barbarians, kicking three penalties and three conversions in a convincing 59–8 win for the Lions.[17] In his second game against Western Force, Farrell started on the bench, came on in the 66th minute and scored a try with his first touch, helping the Lions towards a 69–17 win.[18] He gained his first Lions test cap, coming off the bench to replace Jonathan Sexton, in the 16–41 series decider.[19]

In April 2017, Farrell was named again as part of the Lions squad for the tour to New Zealand.[20] He played a pivotal role in the series, starting in all three tests against the All Blacks. The first test, which was a 30-15 loss to the Lions had Farrell start at 10, while England team mate Ben Te'o starting at 12. Farrell moved to 12 for the next two tests, with Te'o dropping to the bench to accommodate Irish fly-half Jonathan Sexton.[21] With three minutes left of the second test of the series, the Lions were awarded a penalty due to a dangerous tackle by All Black prop Charlie Faumuina. Farrell managed to convert the penalty kick, allowing the Lions to defeat the All Blacks in the second test 24-21, breaking a number of records.[22] Farrell did not miss a single penalty kick in the final match of the series, a 15-15 draw, which allowed the Lions to draw the series with the All Blacks.[23] Farrell also scored the most points of any player who went on tour with the Lions in 2017, scoring 45 points (31 from tests).

Career statistics

As of June 25, 2018:[24]

International career statistics
YearAppearancesTriesConversionsPenaltiesDrop GoalsPoints
20121208301109
201381921086
20141011818095
2015601010153
201613328420197
20179016240104
2018831312077
Total6581021572721

International Tries

TRY Opposition Date Result
1  Australia 02/11/13 win
2  Italy 15/03/14 win
3  Italy 14/02/16 win
4  Australia 18/06/16 win
5  South Africa 12/11/16 win
6  Italy 04/02/18 win
7  Scotland 24/02/18 loss
8  South Africa 09/06/18 loss

Honours

British & Irish Lions

  • Test Series Winner: 2013

England

Saracens

Individual

  • European Player of the Year: 2017 [25]
  • Nominated for World Rugby Player of the Year in 2012, 2016 and 2017

References

  1. ↑ "Owen Farrell". Saracens. Retrieved 8 February 2014.
  2. ↑ http://www.herts.ac.uk/agent-zone/facts-and-figures/sporting-excellence
  3. ↑ "Marsh backs young Farrell". Wigan Today. Johnston Publishing. 18 January 2012. Retrieved 12 March 2012.
  4. ↑ Squires, Neil (3 December 2011). "Owen Farrell: Before we moved south I'd never played union, only on a computer". Daily Express. Retrieved 12 March 2012.
  5. ↑ Cleary, Mick (5 October 2008). "History boy Owen Farrell proves a chip off old block for Saracens". The Telegraph. Retrieved 17 April 2010.
  6. ↑ "Farrell boots Saracens to Champions Cup glory". ESPN. 14 May 2016. Retrieved 16 May 2016.
  7. ↑ "Owen Farrell: Saracens fly-half wins European player of the year award". BBC. 13 May 2017. Retrieved 26 Jan 2018.
  8. ↑ "Owen Farrell named EPCR European Player of the Year". Premiership Rugby. 13 May 2017. Retrieved 26 Jan 2018.
  9. ↑ "England ring the changes". espnscrum.com. 11 January 2012. Retrieved 16 January 2012.
  10. ↑ "Six Nations: Manu Tuilagi returns as England make four changes". 23 February 2012. Retrieved 11 February 2017 – via www.bbc.co.uk.
  11. ↑ "Six Nations: England 38-18 Scotland". BBC Sport. 2 February 2013. Retrieved 19 September 2017.
  12. ↑ "Farrell looks a perfect 10 for Lions as he prepares to face main rival Sexton". The Daily Mail. 5 February 2013. Retrieved 19 September 2017.
  13. ↑ "England 20-13 Australia". BBC Sport. 2 November 2013. Retrieved 19 September 2017.
  14. ↑ "Owen Farrell: England fly-half ruled out of entire Six Nations". BBC. 27 January 2015. Retrieved 23 March 2015.
  15. ↑ "Owen Farrell praises Jonny Wilkinson's kicking tuition after star turn in England's series win over Australia". Retrieved 2016-07-18.
  16. ↑ "Lions 2013: Jonny Wilkinson out but Sam Warburton is captain". 30 April 2013. Retrieved 5 October 2018 – via www.bbc.co.uk.
  17. ↑ "Barbarians 8-59 Lions". 1 June 2013. Retrieved 5 October 2018 – via www.bbc.co.uk.
  18. ↑ "Lions 2013: Healy injury mars nine-try win over Western Forces". 5 June 2013. Retrieved 5 October 2018 – via www.bbc.co.uk.
  19. ↑ "British and Irish Lions thrash Australia to seal series win". 6 July 2013. Retrieved 5 October 2018 – via www.bbc.co.uk.
  20. ↑ "British and Irish Lions 2017: Sam Warburton captain, Dylan Hartley out". 19 April 2017. Retrieved 5 October 2018 – via www.bbc.co.uk.
  21. ↑ "British and Irish Lions: Johnny Sexton and Owen Farrell start in second Test". 29 June 2017. Retrieved 5 October 2018 – via www.bbc.co.uk.
  22. ↑ "British and Irish Lions beat New Zealand 24-21 to set up series decider". 1 July 2017. Retrieved 5 October 2018 – via www.bbc.co.uk.
  23. ↑ "British and Irish Lions draw 15-15 with New Zealand as series ends level at 1-1". 8 July 2017. Retrieved 5 October 2018 – via www.bbc.co.uk.
  24. ↑ "Rugby Union - ESPN Scrum - Statsguru - Player analysis - Owen Farrell - Test matches". ESPN scrum. Retrieved 2018-06-25.
  25. ↑ "Owen Farrell: Saracens fly-half wins European player of the year award". BBC Sport. 13 May 2017. Retrieved 19 September 2017.
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