Never at any stage since his professional debut at the age of 17 had Owen Farrell been deemed surplus to requirements, until yesterday.
On those unusual occasions when England chose to start without their captain, they would always take the precaution of making sure they had him on the bench in case of emergency, likewise the Lions before deciding the time had come to cut the umbilical cord.
Farrell, lauded only the other week by Sir Ian McGeechan as ‘a Test match animal’, found himself reduced to the anonymity of a masked bystander for the series decider. In the circumstances, nobody can ...