Farrell to stay England captain as he stands by Sarries despite relegation

England captain Owen Farrell was given assurances he will still be picked for the national team. Photo: Peter Cziborra/Reuters

England captain Owen Farrell was given assurances he will still be picked for the national team. Photo: Peter Cziborra/Reuters

Published Jan 23, 2020

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England captain Owen Farrell will remain at Saracens despite their relegation after being given assurances he will still be picked for the national team.

Following talks with England head coach Eddie Jones, Farrell is among a group of international stars set to take a ‘sabbatical’ year — playing a limited part in Saracens’ Championship campaign and keeping fresh for next year’s Lions tour.

Farrell, Maro Itoje, Elliot Daly and Jamie George held one-on-one meetings at the club this week and agreed to stay. And on the day Premiership Rugby agreed to publish the full, explosive salary cap report into Saracens’ cheating, their coach Mark McCall began thrashing out plans for the disgraced club’s spell in the second tier.

McCall said: "The international players had a very clear view on what they wanted to do - all of them - and luckily enough that coincided with what we wanted."

"Eddie is on the whole happy to select players who are established and Lions coach Warren Gatland is the same. A lot of our players are proven international players and you’ve seen New Zealand players having sabbatical-type seasons. It would be like that."

"I think Warren is keen to get as fresh a Lions team as possible to take to South Africa and certainly our situation, in a funny kind of way, is going to help him. They are at that stage where they have been on this treadmill for 10 years and they are seeing it as a positive where next year can be one where they are freshened up, physically recover and get better, play enough rugby and go on a Lions tour at the end of it fresh — which is not normal."

England’s squad fly to Portugal today for their Six Nations warm-up camp and Farrell said last night there will be clear-the-air talks with players from rival clubs.

The skipper said: "When we get together it will be clear, because we’re very good at being honest and open about stuff and getting stuff out there and sorting stuff out if we need to. We’ll see if we need to."

The Saracens hierarchy have already held talks with three-quarters of their squad and have split the players into three categories.

Senior players such as Farrell will play only bit-part roles in the Championship, with the club exploring the option of several showcase fixtures in South Africa.

A second tranche of players will play the bulk of the club’s Championship fixtures and is likely to consist of older clubmen and developing talent.

Younger England players, such as Ben Earl and Max Malins, are likely to be sent on loan and interim chief executive Ed Griffiths has already opened talks with rival clubs.

"There is a group of players who are at a stage of their career where they need to maintain momentum by playing at the highest level, so those are the players who might be looking for opportunities to continue playing in the Premiership," said Griffiths, who added that pay cuts have not been discussed. 

Owen Farrell during the Six Nations 2020 launch. Photo: Peter Cziborra/Reuters

"I have had several calls over the last week from Premiership clubs. The telephone calls always start with them saying, “Erm, sorry to phone", and I have said, "Don’t worry you’re not vultures, you are lifeboats”. We will work to ensure players who need momentum in their career playing at the highest level have that opportunity."

"When other clubs said would X or Y be available it was not the England players - the ones you call the rock stars - they were interested in. Many clubs have decided that the best way to put together a competitive squad is not to employ England players, because they are expensive and they are away a lot of the time."

Griffiths backed the club’s call to publish the salary cap investigation after chairman Neil Golding told PRL that they wanted to see it released ‘in full’. ‘There has probably been too much intrigue and a little transparency might help"said Griffiths.

Daily Mail

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