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Watch: Owen Farrell finishes on losing side in his Top 14 debut
By Liam Heagney
Former England skipper Owen Farrell couldn’t grab a win on his Top 14 debut on Saturday. Eleven months after leading his country to a bronze medal finish in Paris at Rugby World Cup 2023, he made his first league start for Racing 92, the club he has joined on a two-year deal from Saracens.
The Parisians began their 2024/25 campaign, their second with ex-England boss Stuart Lancaster at the helm, away to Castres and despite leading 14-13 at the break following a 10th-minute Henry Arundell try, they were beaten 28-31 as the home side struck with an 80th-minute try from Christian Ambadiang.
Farrell, who finished with eight points after being on target with four of his five place kicks, thought he had clinched the victory for Racing when converting Maxime Baudonne’s 78th-minute try for a 28-26 lead. However, it wasn’t to be as Castres struck gold in the final play of the match.
A video capturing the essence of Farrell’s Racing debut was published post-game on the Top 14’s social media channels. The accompanying text message read: “Revered by some or hated by others, Owen Farrell is nonetheless an immense player. The best scorer in the history of the England team made his debut with the jersey of Racing.”
Farrell wasn’t the only debut-making ex-Test captain to finish on the losing side in the opening round of the French league as Stuart Hogg, the former Scotland skipper, was part of the Montpellier team beaten 22-26 at home to Lyon.
Despite not having played rugby since an April 2023 appearance for Exeter against La Rochelle in France, Hogg’s first match since he ended his retirement enjoyed a brilliant start as he was a 15th-minute try scorer for a Montpellier XV that included ex-England forward Billy Vunipola at No8 for his Top 14 debut.
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Latest Comments
Im guessing you never lived in NZ under r dern and red commie labour
We were forced and in some cases mandated to take the V - I know of 7 people who D taking it and many with untold injuries - Minimium 12 K D in NZ taking it - it was never safe never effective never worked just Maimed and K'd qe were close to being thrown into quarantine camps C was only a rebranded Flu
Oz Govt MOH have completed their c commission - they admit they never had the proveable data to make justify their statements and decisions & that the public will never accept it ever happening again - they fired rubber B into peaceful protestors Ardern is hated here ( 1 M patriots forced her out ) - bloomfield her side kick 2IC dr D excempted 11k from taking it - we (not u) know who they were the Pol and Public servants who knew they were fatal - A zeneca pulled it off the market due 2 excess D's - Japan banned them - called them stupid poison -
P M Shinzo Abe opposed the v and sent over a million doses back - because of that he was murdered - So were the heads of several African nations who also opposed the fake v they were k'd and their replacements allowed their countries to be swamped with them - C was V wasnt bought in fo C - C was bought in for the V
Im not here to talk politics but if u want to I can all day especially to a RED neck commie like you - whats it going to be Rugby or Politics or mud slinging give me something to think about - surprise me with something meaty - just not word salad
Go to commentsIt doesn’t matter how good your rugby team is, at the highest level you are going to have momentum swings in games.
Wales having a good ten minute period next week- and they will- doesn’t mean the Boks will be playing poorly.
It’s if you can make the most of it when you have the momentum. And the current group of springboks do enough when they create enough, as great teams do.
For comparison, the All Blacks played their best game of the year against France.
Still lost. And it’s only France’s second game so they aren’t firing at 100% yet.
The ABs haven’t got to that ruthless stage that the springboks are at yet.
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