Owen Farrell has paid glowing tribute to Kevin Sinfield’s England impact, with the Red Rose coach’s future yet to be resolved.
England captain Farrell hailed defence specialist Sinfield for improving him as a player at the Rugby World Cup in France.
Red Rose talisman Farrell also praised Rugby League great Sinfield for his tireless fundraising to honour best friend Rob Burrow.
Sinfield has already raised more than £7million to help seek a cure for Motor Neurone Disease, the condition that has stricken his old Leeds Rhinos team-mate Burrow.
Now the 43-year-old England coach will embark on seven ultra marathons in seven days – in seven cities across Britain and Ireland, in his third and toughest charity challenge yet.
Sinfield’s England future was left uncertain after the World Cup, with the former Leicester coach thought to have weighed up whether he would stay on in the long-run.
Farrell revealed he has been able to improve his own game while working with Sinfield though, as the 32-year-old still seeks Test progress despite boasting 112 England caps.
“He has made me better as a player, of course he has,” Farrell told Standard Sport.
“You spend time with anybody of his calibre, you talk about a lot of things, the experiences they’ve been through, and obviously that’s not just as a coach, that’s obviously as a person as well.
“We all think extremely highly of him, and I don’t think anybody would ever have a bad word to say about Kev.
“For me personally, I’ve grown up watching Kev playing. Obviously he played for the wrong team from my perspective!
“But growing up, seeing him lift quite a few Grand Finals, Challenge Cups and World Club Championships, was massively inspiring. So, to be able to get to know him a bit as well has been great for me and a real privilege as well.”
Felix Jones will join England’s coaching staff in January, the former Ireland full-back fresh from helping South Africa win back-to-back World Cup titles.
Sinfield and Jones could yet coexist in the same England set-up, with boss Steve Borthwick yet to finalise the backroom staff for next year.
Sinfield’s gruelling running challenge will start on December 1, with seven ultra marathons to be completed in as many days.
Alongside the Oldham native sticking by his best friend Burrow, Farrell also insisted Sinfield has put a huge amount of planning into this latest endeavour.
“It’s obviously something that’s very close to his heart, and I completely understand why he’s doing what he’s doing, in terms of the awareness in the fundraising that he’s been doing, and the challenges,” said Farrell.
I love what I do, I’m passionate about it.
“And it’s not just the challenges themselves but it’s also the work that goes on around them to make them such a success as they have been. That speaks volumes.
“Obviously they are best mates, and for him to do anything he can, I’m sure he would say that’s the least he can do.
“But I think it’s important too for everybody to understand how much work goes into all that, it’s huge.”
Farrell surpassed Jonny Wilkinson as England’s record points-scorer at the World Cup, but has no intentions of easing off at the start of a new cycle.
“I want to play as long as I can,” he said.
“I love what I do, I’m passionate about it and I don’t see that changing or me slowing down any time soon.”
