ENGLAND CAPTAIN OWEN Farrell continues to attract criticism in his own country, with much of the scrutiny currently focusing on his place-kicking form.
The 31-year-old remains a divisive figure despite being rated as a key player by every England and Lions coach he has worked under, as well as Mark McCall at Saracens.
While some critics seem blind to his quality around the pitch, Farrell’s place-kicking has been poor in recent times. In the current Six Nations, he is kicking at a 47% success rate – something that was discussed on today’s episode of Rugby Weekly Extra, a podcast available exclusively to members of The42 twice per week.
Former Ireland performance analyst Eoin Toolan – who has also worked as a kicking coach in Japan – defended Farrell’s general form for England.
“Farrell has been retired if you read the media there,” said Toolan. “There are so many people calling for his head which is ridiculous.”
But Toolan also discussed the Saracens out-half’s struggles off the tee.
In backing him to recover sooner rather than later, Toolan pointed out that Farrell is the third-highest points scorer in Test rugby history, not far off second-placed Jonny Wilkinson.
“It is difficult and it’s generally more mental than technical, to be honest with you,” said Toolan.
“It’s very similar to a golf swing and it can take some time. I think he has a pretty good understanding of his technical stuff and what works for him, so it’s about sticking to that process and not over-training it.
“Again, using the golf analogy, it’s not spending too much time on the range and just trusting the process. Eventually, it will turn but you’d think that there is definitely something upsetting him.
“It could be in routine or something technical at the back of his mind that he just needs to iron out. But when you see the volume of points he has scored, he certainly has the ability and mental fortitude.
“It just appears to be a bit of blip at the moment.”
Farrell was at out-half for England in their win over Wales last weekend, but head coach Steve Borthwick has options in that position.
Marcus Smith has been released from England’s training camp this week in order to play for club side Harlequins, while the fit-again George Ford has been included by Borthwick.
Initially, that suggested Smith was going to be dropped from the matchday 23 for the Six Nations game against France in two weekends’ time, but more recent reports in England say that Borthwick wants him to get game time before possibly starting against the French, which would mean Farrell moving back to number 12.
“I thought it made sense to release Marcus Smith to play, when I saw it I said it was a smart move. He needs game time to build a bit of confidence,” said Toolan.
“I think Smith would go really well with Ollie Lawrence at 12, to have that punch on his outside affords him to play a bit flatter and have that bailout of a Lawrence. There has been a lot of chat around George Ford being the preferred candidate for Borthwick. So it will be interesting to see how it plays out and if Borthwick sticks to his word.
“There has been some evolution in England’s attack. The Anthony Watson try against Wales was really well-worked, so you can see there’s starting to be a shift in terms of their attack. Given the Harlequins influence that Smith has, he could potentially play a big role in the long-term.
“But it’s a bit of a guessing game at the moment so we’ll see how selection goes next week.”
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