Body language expert shares verdict on hand-over-mouth Owen Farrell
A leading UK body language expert has run the rule over the weekend Rugby World Cup behaviours of Owen Farrell and Dan Biggar.
Darren Stanton claimed that the suspended England skipper was deeply frustrated at having to watch his team’s win over Argentina from the Marseille stands, while the Wales out-half was described as someone to avoid when displaying the anger he showed versus Fiji in Bordeaux.
The opening round of the Rugby World Cup in France came to a close on Sunday night when the Welsh clung on to a 32-26 victory in a classic encounter with the Fijians.
The previous evening, it was the turn of England to get off to a 27-10 winning start in their clash with the Pumas without their skipper.
Farrell had copped a four-game ban last month that will only expire after next Sunday’s second outing at the finals against Japan in Nice.
With their captain unavailable, it was left to George Ford to take on the No10 jersey and he did this task with aplomb, scoring all 27 of his team’s points – including a 10-minute drop goal hat-trick in a first half that had started with the red-carding of flanker Tom Curry.
Stanton, the body language expert who has appeared on popular UK shows such This Morning and The One Show, monitored the reactions of Farrell over the course of the Stade Velodrome match as he helplessly watched Ford kick England to an unexpected win.
Speaking to CasinoAlpha.com, Stanton explained how Farrell showed signs of anxiety and impatience from the stands with Ford putting in his match-winning display. “In the stands, there was a mixture of anxiety and impatience. Clearly, he wanted to be a part of the match,” reckoned Stanton.
“There was frustration, anger and disbelief as he was watching on not being in a position to play or help or support his teammates.
"Farrell frequently held his hand over his mouth, which is a gesture that displays disbelief and shock at a given situation, so incredibly frustrated is probably what I would say to describe him as he stood in the stands watching on.”
Switching to Biggar, who berated his Wales teammates for trying to play their way out of trouble deep in their own half just before half-time, Stanton added: “Dan Biggar shows all the tell-tale signs of being in an extreme state of anger, and the police used to call it ‘gross motor movement’.
“This is where people clench their fists and grit their teeth and, from a psychological perspective, we see him exhibiting the anger emotion through his micro-expressions and the eyes are focused in a particular direction.
“There is no mistaking an anger expression but, also coupled with the gross motor movements, this is somebody you want to stay out of their way if you see anyone displaying these gestures.”
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Of their 5 big matches in RWC Scotland and NZ were the easiest. They took a 12-3 lead against NZ and after the red decided it was best to hold the lead and take chances that came. None came and it was tight but they dug a lot deeper in the other two knock out matches. They had trounced NZ in Twickenham in a fixture that NZ must now regret. Psychology was clearly with SA in the final as a result.
Go to commentsMy favourite line/exchanges from Chasing the Sun 2. News headline: “SA. The last hurdle in ABs World Cup glory”. Something like that. “You’re all just a hurdle. A hop, skip and a jump”. Coming from Rassie and Jacque. Basically - nobody thinks you’re going to win. You’re just a pushover team. Nobody respects you. When the camera shows the players faces, you can see the effect. You can see the rev meters (die moer metertjies) firing up. Mitchell said he felt it prior to the 19 final. He said to Eddie watching the teams warming up that it was going to be a tough day at the office. Wave a red flag in front of South African, and you can expect a reaction. This is not unique - many teams rev themselves. And Bok teams in particular. With horrific consequences (discipline, poor thinking under pressure) because that’s the drawback to using emotion right? But what this Bok team does better than many since 2007 is channel the emotion and stay on task. Despite the emotion. Why, because while Rassie might play mind games - he talks about creating a safe environment. Listen to his recent honorary doctorate acceptance speech. While he uses psychology he creates psychological safety. He’s a damn fine coach. Can’t wait for Pretoria. It’s going to be a hummer.
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