Owen Farrell Confirms He'll Be Ready for International Comeback in 2025

11/19/2024 11:18 AM

England rugby fans were left stunned earlier this year when skipper Owen Farrell announced his absence from the Six Nations 2024.

The talismanic fly-half made the difficult decision to step back, prioritising his mental health—a move that took many by surprise.

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A Tough Call for the Sarries Star

Saracens, Farrell's lifelong club, broke the news in December, emphasizing his unwavering commitment to his own and his family's well-being. The 32-year-old has always been a warrior on the field, but even warriors need to take a pause sometimes.

Farewell England, Bonjour Racing 92

In a twist that few saw coming, Farrell then shocked the rugby world by signing a lucrative two-year deal with Racing 92. The move to the Parisian side marks a seismic shift in his career and spells trouble for England's national team plans.

Out of Bounds for England Duty

Farrell's French adventure comes with a bitter pill for English fans: his unavailability for national selection until at least 2026. The RFU's strict policy barring overseas-based players from representing England rules him out of contention, dealing a heavy blow to the Red Roses.

Lions Hope Glimmers On

All hope is not lost, though. The British & Irish Lions have shown interest in including Farrell despite his overseas commitments. Chief executive Ben Calveley assured fans, "We don't have a policy that closes off anyone from being selected. If you just look at previous Lions tours, we've had people come on a tour who haven't been playing for a national side."

Farrell's Focus Remains

Farrell, while staying realistic, hasn't closed the door on a potential Lions call-up. “That’s a long way off still,” he said. “I wouldn’t rule it out, but there’s no guarantee I’d be in the squad. There’s a lot of competition.” Ever the competitor, Farrell is determined to earn his spot through merit.

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Owen Farrell reveals the rugby players he doesn’t like:

England fly-half Owen Farrell is never afraid of sharing an opinion or two – especially when it's about someone he doesn't particularly like.

#1. Ryan Wilson

The Scotland back-rower was the instigator in some tunnel argy-bargy when the players returned to the changing rooms after the warm-up back in 2018 with Farrell at the centre.

Footage of the incident shows all hell breaking loose when Farrell barged his way past a number of Scotland players to confront Wilson, who had been attempting to get inside the head of George Ford.

Remembering the incident, Marler said: “It’s become an incredibly hostile rivalry (England and Scotland) and I love it. The niggle goes back to the night in 2018 when Ryan Wilson picked on George Ford in the tunnel.

“Unfortunately, I was plodding back with a belly full of cheese toastie so I was nowhere near to intervene when Wilson started dishing it out in his thick Scottish-Surrey accent.”

Wilson later revealed he was banned from Twickenham following the incident.

"I remember that game, I was actually injured and after tunnel-gate, after everything that happened in the tunnel against England, I'd lined up a corporate gig at Twickenham," he recalled to Rugby Pass in November.

"Had it all lined up, a little bit of cash, all excited, only to get a message back saying the RFU have banned you from Twickenham Stadium after everything that happened the year before.”

#3. Dave Attwood

Former England lock Attwood has opened up on the latest RugbyPass Offload about his ongoing rivalry with Owen Farrell.

The Bath lock won the last of his 24 caps for England back in 2016, which could have a lot to do with his relationship with the current England captain.

He revealed: “On the pitch, I struggle a lot with Owen Farrell. We just don't see eye to eye on a lot of things,

"He hates me with a passion. Despite my earthy roots, he thinks I am a posh c***. He hates that. I bagged rugby league once jovially. I was saying it to take the piss kind of thing, 'a bloody sport for the peasants'. He f**kin' hated it.”

“He had a bit of a shout at me and went off to the toilet and I followed him.

"We all had a drink or two after the game but we didn't need to get carried away with this. I was in the urinal behind the door and he was three or four down and as I got in his dad walked in as well, he was coaching at the time. He was, 'I don't want to fuckin' hear it' or something like that and as he walked out he went to open the door and slam it into the back of me. There was like a stop on the floor so it hit the stop and almost clocked him back…

"We never really addressed it after that. That was where it started and it was like a drunken little bit of argy that went too far. He is an incredibly competitive athlete and he is also very f**kin' good, he has got high standards. He is a very competitive athlete and in order to be that good, you have to flirt on the wrong side of competitive.

"So whenever we play each other there is always some element in the game where one of us is running at the other one or we are trying to bang each other. There always seems to be an element of that to it. I am sure he is like, I don't even know that Dave is playing."

#3. James Haskell

The pair have what we can only describe as a love-hate relationship. As legendary as the ‘best mates’ videos were during the 2016 tour of Australia, Farrell certainly didn’t seem to be enjoying it.

#4. Faf de Klerk

Farrell and De Klerk ended up at arm's length from each other in 2018 during their summer tour just before the 20-minute mark and the rest of the two sides quickly joined in.

The pair have since clashes on multiple occasions, including during the World Cup final a year later. Klerk is clearly someone who gets under the England skippers skin and their appears to be little love lost between the pair.

Speaking about the pair, Tom Curry said they are ‘very different characters’.

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