Owen Farrell
_(cropped).jpg) Farrell in January 2014 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Birth name | Owen Andrew Farrell | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Date of birth | 24 September 1991 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Higher End, Wigan, Greater Manchester, England | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 96 kg (15 st 2 lb)[1] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| School | St. John Fisher Catholic High School St George's School | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Notable relative(s) | Andy Farrell (father) Liam Farrell (cousin) Sean O'Loughlin (uncle) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Rugby union career | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Owen Andrew Farrell (born 24 September 1991) is a professional English rugby union player, currently playing for Aviva Premiership side Saracens. His father is Andy Farrell, who played both for England's rugby league and rugby union sides.
His primary position is fly-half, but he often plays at centre.
Early career
Farrell was born on 24 September 1991 in Wigan, Greater Manchester. He began playing rugby league in his hometown at the age of eight for Wigan St Patricks.[2] When his father Andy signed for Saracens in 2005, his family moved to Harpenden, where Owen at the age of 13/14 was introduced to rugby union for the first time.[3]
Saracens
He held the record of youngest player ever to appear in English professional rugby union after playing for Saracens 11 days after his 17th birthday, in a 26–17 home defeat against Llanelli Scarlets in the EDF Energy Cup on 5 October 2008,[4] until this record was broken in November 2009 by Leicester's George Ford.
In the 2010–11 season, Farrell signed for Bedford Blues on loan. However, he returned to Saracens and was pivotal in the 2010–11 Aviva Premiership Final kicking five penalties and converting James Short's try for a personal haul of 17 points in the 22–18 victory over reigning champions Leicester Tigers.
England
2012
He was given his first call-up to the England Elite Player Squad when Stuart Lancaster selected him in his squad for the 2012 Six Nations Championship.[5]
He made his debut on 4 February 2012 against Scotland, starting at Inside Centre next to Saracens' team-mates Brad Barritt and Charlie Hodgson. He kicked two penalties and a conversion, but also missed two tough penalties from around 50 metres. His next match, against Italy, saw him put in a faultless kicking display, kicking four penalties and a conversion. In the next match against Wales, Farrell played Fly-Half for the first time in an England shirt after Charlie Hodgson sustaining a finger injury in the week leading up to the Wales game.[1] Once again his goal kicking was impressive missing just a single kick out of five but was replaced by Toby Flood later in the game after appearing to injure his leg after a clearance kick. He then played against France and Ireland. In the Ireland game Farrell put in a good kicking display, only missing 1 conversion. Farrell finished the competition with 63 points from 5 games.
The 2012 summer tour of South Africa saw Owen Farrell get selected again. Farrell played all game in the warm up game against The Barbarians and scored a respectable 17 points a game that England won comfortably. The first game against South Africa had Owen Farrell played all game. England lost 22–17 in a tight game. Farrell kicked all 4 of his penalties but missed a conversion. Farrell only came on as a substitute in the second test, and couldn't help England avoid defeat for a second time. Farrell didn't score any points in this game. Farrell had 2 spells in the third test. Farrell scored two penalties in a tight game that ended 14–14. Farrell also attempted to score his first drop goal. But missed both opportunities. Farrell ended the series with 18 points from 3 appearances.
Farrell played his first game in the Autumn test series as a substitute and scored a conversion. On 1 December 2012 Farrell started England's game against the New Zealand team and scored a total of 17 Points, helping England to a record breaking victory, beating the All Blacks by the biggest margin of points England have ever defeated them by. He was nominated for IRB player of the year, but failed to win this, missing out to the New Zealand stand-off, Dan Carter.
2013
Farrell started in the Calcutta Cup vs Scotland, only missing one kick in a near faultless display. He set up one try and assisted England to a strong start in their 2013 Six Nations campaign. He also received the RBS Six Nations man of the match for his performance.
After a break from English Rugby due to the Lions Tour, Farrell returned to England for the 2013 QBE Autumn Internationals. He played the full 80 minutes of the match against the Wallabies, kicking two penalties (but also missing three with one hitting the post), two conversions and scoring his debut England try, breaking through a gap in the Australian line of defence and touching down under the posts. His try proved to be the decider, as England went on to win 20-13.
2015
In January 2015 Farrell was ruled out of the entire Six Nations competition with a serious knee injury.[6] However, since recovering from his injury, Farrell has been picked to train in the England Camp, ahead of the England 2015 World Cup, during the summer months. He went on to start in England's first World Cup Warm-Up match on 15th August, against France, scoring 2 out of 3 conversions and consequently helping England win the game 19-14. It is thought Farrell will be selected by Stuart Lancater for the final 31-man squad, to take part in the 2015 World Cup, on 31st August.
British and Irish Lions
He was named as part of the British and Irish Lions squad for the 2013 British and Irish Lions tour to Australia. Owen started for the Lions in Hong Kong on 1 June against the Barbarians, kicking 3 penalties and 3 conversions in a convincing 59–8 win for the Lions.
In his second game against Western Force, Owen who started on the bench came on in the 66th minute, to then score a try on his first touch, helping the Lions strive towards a 70–17 win.
International statistics
As of 5 June 2013.
| Year | Appearances | Tries | Conversions | Penalties | Drop Goals | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2012 | 12 | 0 | 8 | 30 | 1 | 109 |
| 2013 | 8 | 1 | 9 | 21 | 0 | 86 |
| 2014 | 5 | 1 | 13 | 11 | 0 | 64 |
| Total | 25 | 2 | 30 | 62 | 1 | 259 |
International analysis by opposition
| Against | Played | Won | Lost | Drawn | Tries | Points | %
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Argentina |
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 Australia |
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 Fiji |
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 France |
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 Ireland |
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 Italy |
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 New Zealand |
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 Scotland |
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 South Africa |
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 Wales |
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| Total | 25 | 16 | 8 | 1 | 2 | 259 | 64.00% |
References
- ^ "Owen Farrell". Saracens. Retrieved 8 February 2014.
- ^ "Marsh backs young Farrell". Wigan Today. Johnston Publishing. 18 January 2012. Retrieved 12 March 2012.
- ^ Squires, Neil (3 December 2011). "Owen Farrell: Before we moved south I'd never played union, only on a computer". Daily Express. Retrieved 12 March 2012.
- ^ Cleary, Mick (5 October 2008). "History boy Owen Farrell proves a chip off old block for Saracens". The Telegraph. Retrieved 17 April 2010.
- ^ "England ring the changes". espnscrum.com. 11 January 2012. Retrieved 16 January 2012.
- ^ "Owen Farrell: England fly-half ruled out of entire Six Nations". BBC. 27 January 2015. Retrieved 23 March 2015.