Lancaster: Farrell is a huge addition for us
STUART Lancaster is thrilled to have reunited with Owen Farrell at Racing 92 and says the former England captain is a coach’s dream built for a career in management after retirement.
Farrell, 32, put his international career on the back burner to sign a two-year deal in Paris after making over 250 appearances for Saracens, winning six Premiership titles and three Champions Cups.
Lancaster, who was England’s head coach from 2011-15, gave Farrell his Test debut in the 2012 Six Nations against Scotland but the pair parted ways, with the 54-year-old moving to Leinster after he resigned from the England job after the 2015 World Cup.
Saracens and Leinster enjoyed a fierce rivalry in Europe meaning the pair had little communication but Lancaster is delighted to bring in England’s record points scorer, who will look to be the difference maker for the Parisian club that finished sixth in the Top 14 last year and are yet to taste European glory.
Speaking on The Rugby Paper podcast, Lancaster said: “After we went our separate ways after my time with England, I didn’t keep much contact with him. I went to Leinster, so Saracens were our rivals. Even if you’ve got close friends in other teams, it’s hard to maintain the same relationship. He was progressing under Eddie Jones and Steve Borthwick, while I was busy coaching Johnny Sexton.
“Our paths crossed mainly through Europe but our relationship in the last few months has been very easy to pick up again. We started in 2012, I got the interim England job and he was in the squad already aged 20.
“He is a coach’s dream. He brings a wealth of experience and even back in 2012 with England he brought that leadership element and knowledge of the game. His skill set and mindset has always been incredibly strong and he’s layered on 12 years of experience with Saracens and the British and Irish Lions. I joined Leinster in 2016 and Johnny (Sexton) was around the same age. He’s very similar to Johnny, he brings a huge amount of everything; leadership, technical ability, mindset and his love of the game. I’m certain he’ll go on to be a coach and is a huge addition for us.”
Many thought Farrell, who is generally perceived as a conservative fly-half, may struggle to adapt to Racing’s traditionally expansive style of play but Lancaster points out how Saracens’ tactics evolved in recent years with Farrell the lynchpin at 10.
Lancaster added: “Two seasons ago Saracens after missing out on the Premiership title to Leicester Tigers, played a really expansive game led by Owen which shows his adaptability. Sometimes he has to fit into what the coach wants. From a Racing point of view, we needed someone to fill that void of quality at 10. When I first joined Beauden Barrett then Marcus Smith were linked with joining. Players like Gael Fickou and Cameron Woki have responded well. It’s nice for Owen because he’s not the captain and doesn’t have to be a player-coach because he and I are similar, there’s no need to fight to play a certain way.”
In France, the game-managing ‘quarterback’ tends to be the scrum-half rather than the 10 with Farrell set to link up alongside exciting 22-year-old, five-cap France nine Nolann Le Garrec. Lancaster is excited to watch his half back duo in action and hopes they can sing off the same hymn sheet.
“Nolann Le Garrec at nine brings creativity but has had a shoulder operation, so we haven’t seen them together yet,” said Lancaster. “Nolann is very different to a traditional English nine who would give the ball, and occasionally make a break, whereas Nolann is focused on exploiting space around the ruck. It’ll be intriguing how they work together. Nine take the lead in the French game with systems based around attacking round the ruck leading to an offloading game which creates tries, just look at how Toulouse play.”
