BACK IN FEBRUARY, when Owen Farrell produced the goods at Lansdowne Road and Jonathan Sexton’s hamstring twanged, the smart money was on the Englishman to wear the Lions 10 in the First Test against Australia.
Farrell’s kicking was not perfect on that rain-soaked day in Dublin but his all-round game was excellent as he piled into every green jersey he could get his hands on. Chris Robshaw topped the tackle count for the visitors but the 21-year-old outhalf was not far behind.
Added to that excellent away-day shift, was a Test match win over the All Blacks, a nomination for 2012 IRB Player of the Year and an upcoming Heineken Cup quarter-final with Saracens. However, Sexton returned for Leinster in excellent form and, in Europe, Farrell came up against Jonny Wilkinson. The elder statesman won.
Farrell botched a try-scoring chance out on the left wing as Toulon, through Wilkinson, ground their way to the Heineken Cup Final. ‘Small margins’ is how the outhalf feels the tie was lost. He told TheScore.ie:
At the same time, we did create some chances to give ourselves hope but we didn’t take them a couple of times… there was one clear chance I had myself that I didn’t execute as well as I wanted to.”
As much as Farrell wanted to focus on the Lions, now 10 days into training camp, he tuned into the Amlin and Heineken Cup finals.
He said, “Leinster were outstanding [against Stade Francais] in the way they controlled the game and the preparation that went into that and their planning. That showed in how they created their scoring opportunities, which they executed well after that. The Heineken game was a real arm-wrestle but that’s what big games are all about.”
While many would have initially predicted a similar arm-wrestle for the starting outhalf slot in Australia, the common consensus of former players (such as Will Greenwood, Gavin Hastings and Stuart Barnes) is that Sexton is ‘nailed on’ to get the job. Farrell insists he has enough on his mind in a new environment – with fresh names and calls to learn – to get hung up on what may happen in a month’s time. Nonetheless, he is complimentary when asked about the top outhalves in world rugby at present. He declared:
Jonny Sexton’s performance at the weekend was brilliant. He’s been outstanding all year. I know he’s been injured recently but he has really stood out all year. Jonny Wilkinson has just been named European Player of the Year so you can’t look much further than that.”
Lions coach Warren Gatland revealed during the week that every player in camp, and not in finals and semi-finals with their club sides, would feature against the Barbarians in Hong Kong on 1 June. With that knowledge in mind, is Farrell allowing himself time to sit back and daydream about his Lions debut? No chance, he replies. He is taking nothing for granted but plans to bring his best against the world class raggle taggle that will make up the Baa Baa’s squad.
“There’s no point being half-hearted about things,” he said. “You don’t want to dip your toe into things you want to throw yourself in.”
