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'Abyss of dismay': Owen Farrell branded a Top 14 transfer flop

Owen Farrell in action for Racing 92 in October (Photo by Franco Arland/Getty Images)

Former England skipper Owen Farrell has been branded a Top 14 transfer flop after failing to impress during his first five months in France . The 33-year-old left Saracens to take up a two-year deal at Racing 92, but the first part of his Parisian stay hasn’t resulted in him shooting out the lights – according to Midi Olympique, the French rugby newspaper.

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Currently injured following a November operation to mend a groin problem, Farrell made eight appearances for Stuart Lancaster’s side before being sidelined. He has now been described as the 2024/25 season’s number one transfer disappointment.

Midi Olympique wrote : “What does Owen Farrell represent? A world of his own: 112 caps and 1,237 points scored with England, six Premiership titles and three Champions Cup titles.

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Paul Gustard on potential “signing of the season” Owen Farrell

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Paul Gustard on potential “signing of the season” Owen Farrell

Coach Paul Gustard is full of praise for Racing 92 signing Owen Farrell

“The moment the former Saracens playmaker set foot in the Top 14, we were convinced that Racing would have the face of a French champion this year. And then? Disappointment is always proportional to the admiration we feel, Farrell’s more than neutral performances quickly plunged us into an abyss of dismay.

“He is certainly aggressive in the tackle but too slow in the offensive animation and, despite his pedigree, preferred to leave the penalty shootout to Nolann Le Garrec.

“In Hauts-de-Seine, however, it is said that Farrell, recently operated on for a groin, only owed his poor form to this injury and that he will show a completely different face upon his return, on January 18 against the Stormers.”

Other players to feature in Midi’s top 10 list of transfer flops included at No3 Toulon’s Antoine Frisch, the French midfielder signed from Munster, at No4 Pau’s Harry Williams, the English prop signed from Montpellier, and at No8 Clermont’s Michael Alaalatoa, the prop signed from Leinster.

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The assessment on Frisch claimed he “has not yet kept the promises” born from his recruitment. “The native of Fontainebleau does not have enough influence on the Var game and is too timid with the ball in hand to make a real difference on an individual level.”

Switching to ex-England front-rower Williams, he said: “Harry Williams had a difficult first year in France with Montpellier and he arrived at Pau with the desire to show that it was just a sum of misunderstandings… but he has still not found his level of play from Exeter, which is more than frustrating.”

Alaalatoa, meanwhile, was criticised over Regis Montagne and Christian Ojovan getting more game time than him at Clermont.

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Comments

11 Comments
S
SK 100 days ago

Im sure he will make an impact at some point but they have to play to his strengths to get the best out of him

B
BM 101 days ago

I think the only thing Racing management can be applauded for is consistency at “putting down” their star recruits. Thought they were petty with Siya last season and now they’re onto Farrell. Common denominator? You do the math 🧮

b
bd 101 days ago

Siya had a similar review pre exit, doing well since. Could be the something else.

B
Bull Shark 102 days ago

Fat and transparent?

H
HU 102 days ago

Paris seems to be a difficult place for proven rugby greats .... Siya last year, Owen this season ..... not sure what the issue is, but Siya has been at his best (for the Boks at least ...) since moving away from Racing, which proves at least that it's perhaps not the players alone to blame

S
Soliloquin 102 days ago

It wasn’t for Carter, Rokocoko, Beale, Zebo or Nakawara, even for Tuisova or Fickou now, although it’s easier for them (Top14 knowledge or French).

And Finn Russell’s genius arose in Paris.

Whereas Sexton or Woki dropped down.

The team seems to be more of the issue, the coaching method (with Lancaster’s son potentially creating nepotistic frustration) and the role of Laurent Travers was not clear in the organization.

With still Le Garrec outshining everyone.

J
J Marc 102 days ago

Farell is not the greatest flop, he is injured currently, he was a ghost since the begining of the season, but the greatest flop, even anybody was waiting for a miracle, is the coach son, who play every game and is abyssal every time.

T
Tom 102 days ago

"He is certainly aggressive in the tackle but too slow in the offensive animation" this is exactly what you get with Farrell, surely this can't be a surprise?


Passionate leader, aggressive defender, excellent kicker, zero running threat, can't draw defenders, constantly squanders attacking ball with speculative kicks because he can't run or draw defenders, has only ever performed in teams with dominant packs.

D
DC 102 days ago

To top that off,he is a bit of a rugby thug,having gotten away with more dangerous tackles than i care to remember

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John 51 minutes ago
Super Rugby draw heavily favours NZ sides but they can't win in Australia

Cheers for the comment HHT!


I think your point on unfair draw and mine, which in essence is about an unfair draw actually aid each other for a rather strong argument that the draw needs to be looked at.


I think this is a case of two things can be true at once.


I have chosen in around 1000 words to explore this particular issue with the draw I have identified.


Your point, with having the NZ teams playing each other twice on some occassions while others in Aus not is also not fair.


But with the way the table looks currently, would the NZ sides all be in the top six if the draw had been done more in line with my and your point?


For instance, 4 of the 6 Aus wins against NZ sides have come against the Highlanders, 3 in Aus, 1 in NZ.


The Landers have beaten the Blues and lost to the Canes by 2 points, those are their only two NZ games to date and they play the Chiefs this weekend. Their 3 games against the Aussie sides in Australia compared to the Blues 1 is a massive disadvantage because travel takes it’s toll.


Then looking at your example the Blues, they have the toughest season of any side by far but I would also argue that the limited travel is a massive help in preparation, recovery etc. But their draw must be looked at, any side would suffer with a draw like that.


Although I am not suggesting the Aus sides are better than the NZ sides overall, the current ledger and table set up suggests the rift is not as big currently as the underlying assertion to your argument suggests.


More will absolutley be revealed over the coming rounds as the strength of the two franchises.

7 Go to comments
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JW 1 hour ago
'We offered him a three-year deal': Hurricanes priced out of U20 star

I see I’m not getting my point across.

If the plan from his family for him was to make more cash

Lets play along with you presumption these “shackles” existed then. Logically, as I’ve already tried to show, that makes no sense, but I’ll try to use it to show what I mean by saying/answering.. they would have got more cash by playing hard-to-get with the French clubs by returning to New Zealand and signing with the Hurricanes. Now you should see returning to NZ is not relevant to the discussion, it is also a euphemism, as he would already be (have returned) when he first decided to stay. His family would know that signing a development contract for the Hurricanes in no way legally affects his ability to take an offer in France.


Now, that wasn’t what I was saying happened, but if you can now follow that thread of logic, I’m saying its because this situation happened, signing for Toulon just months later, that you are wrong to think “returning to New Zealand” must mean he wasn’t “shackled”.


Actually, I’m not saying that he was “shackled”, the article is saying that. That is how you would read the words “His parents see that as the route they want their son to take, and we support that.” and “but it’s probably a slightly different package to what Toulon can offer” here, and I’m pretty sure in most English speaking places GD.


Of course without those statements I agree that it is very possible he’s grown, changed his mind from wanting to develop here with players and coaches he’s comfortable/friends with, to where he wants to take on the challenge of a rich and prestigious club like Toulon. A few months is perhaps enough time to people he trusts to open him up to that sort of environment even, but that’s simply not the message we go, is it? I also think you maybe have an over defense stance about thinking intrinsically or literally about money meaning he was thrown lots of dollars? It might be far from the case, but the monetary value of been given a home and jobs for the family, all the bells and whistles a wealthy club can provide etc is far removed from the mentality he’d currently be in of “cleaning the sheds” after a game. Even without real money just the life style they got given when there last would no doubt be enough to change the mind of some grown up living day to day off your own sustenance/plantation or like that they would have had.

11 Go to comments
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JW 2 hours ago
Ex-All Black Richie Mo’unga teases return to ‘Test match setting’ in 2025

They didn’t really let him go though did they. He was gone, already signed to leave some 18 months earlier. Not much they could do.


Definitely a shame though, hence why I criticize the coaching for not unlocking that composure earlier. We would have seen he was definitely the player we need to take us through that WC, and the next, before the contract talks started. After, was too late. Conversely, if he had of continued to play the way he had been when he signed to go to Japan, I have no doubt Damien McKenzie would have been the player to lead us in 23’, and then we very likely would have won that Final. I’m not so sure Dmac would hve been good enough to get us past Ireland, Richie definitely deserves a lot of credit for simply getting us to the Final.


But that was all my message to HHT was. That class, or talent in this case, is permeant, and games like Ireland showed he did definitely had that. Obviously Richie’s got a large responsibility in realizing it sooner too, but in terms of not displaying it when it counts in 2019 or 2023, I reckon that’s on the coachs more than a lack of talent on his part, and it’s the same shame when it comes to your sentiment. If he was at the point were he could have saved out bacon against Ireland in 2022, it might not have been too late for NZR to have come in with a big contract offer. The bigger problem now is that Razor is only exasperating that problem with this new group. We now clearly know he was a big factor in Richie taking so long, because he’s replicating the same problems with the current batch. Thankfully NZR had no other option but to offer a big contract to secure Dmac this time though, regardless of how he must have felt after being treated like that.

8 Go to comments
L
Louise Hayward 2 hours ago
Zainab Alema breaking new ground: ‘I had to invest in sport hijabs to play comfortably’

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