Farrell relishing a start at No.10
Owen Farrell has insisted he will be able to shoulder the burden of being England’s flyhalf when he makes his first Twickenham start for his country against Wales in the Six Nations on Saturday.
The 20-year-old, whose only two previous England caps have come as a centre in this season’s Six Nations wins away to Scotland and Italy, finds himself in the pivotal position after a finger injury ruled out his experienced Saracens teammate Charlie Hodgson.
But despite his youth Farrell, the son of former dual code international turned England backs coach Andy, does have experience of steering a side.
Last season the goal-kicking playmaker steered Saracens to the Premiership title, a run that included appearing at a sold-out Twickenham in the Final against Leicester.
And with both Saracens and England used to seeing Hodgson and Farrell switch positions during the course of a game, the new Test flyhalf had no qualms about helming England’s attack.
“I’m happy to fit in anywhere, I’m happy to be part of this team,” Farrell said at England’s training base on Thursday.
“I don’t think about it too much, 10 or 12 can interchange a lot. It’s just the sharpness of making the call, but having been working round this team for some time I feel ready.”
Farrell, whose nerveless place-kicking helped England recover from nine points down to win 19-15 against Italy in Rome last time out, added: “The way I play at centre, I can be a second flyhalf in the team anyway.
“I’ve always wanted to work the game out and be a person who guides a team. It’s just a step in one position. You do have responsibility but you’ve got some unbelievable players around you, not just here [with England] but at Saracens.”
Farrell has rarely had any problem ‘bossing’ more experienced players and he said: “You learn as much as you can, watch, and then you earn the right to talk to other people and try to lead them. I’ve always been a person who speaks up, quite loud and I like to bring energy to the game.”
Unusually the ‘spine’ of England’s team – No.8 Ben Morgan, scrumhalf Lee Dickson, Farrell and inside centre Brad Barritt – will all be making their Twickenham Test debuts this weekend.
But far from being concerned by that prospect, Farrell said he was inspired to be a member of an England squad looking to rebuild after a World Cup where they struggled to get to the quarter-finals and Wales finished fourth.
“Because it’s a new system, everyone is on the same page,” said Farrell of an England side selected by interim coach Stuart Lancaster, handed a caretaker role for the Six Nations following Martin Johnson’s post World Cup resignation.
“We’re growing as a team, we feed off each other and will help each other out,” he added.
Farrell will have a familiar figure immediately outside him in tough-tackling centre Barritt, also a powerful runner.
“I’d definitely rather have Brad on the team,” Farrell said. “You can be prepared as you want to be but you’ve still got to stop him.”
Now Farrell cannot wait to run out at Twickenham in front of an 80,000 capacity crowd where the majority of fans will be cheering for his team.
“What could be better than walking out in an England shirt with the majority of the crowd on your side? It’s going to be brilliant.”
Recalling his memories of the ground, Farrell said: “My first time at Twickenham was when Dad won his first cap. It’s a great place to play rugby. That was a massively special day and I can’t wait to get out there.
“You do get nervous but when you’ve got your job going through your head, you talk yourself into what you have got to do, the gameplan and making the right calls at the right time.
“There’s not anything else to think about when you are on the field.
“If you go away from that, and don’t think about what’s in front of you, you lose focus.”
AFP
