Owen Farrell has insisted he does not see his professional life changing hugely in the wake of his father Andy’s departure from the England setup.
For the first time in his union career, Farrell junior is about to start working with a coaching team not featuring his father, who has moved across the Irish Sea to assume new roles with Ireland and Munster.
With Farrell senior set to relocate to Dublin and his son having moved out of the family home in Hertfordshire, the days of sitting around the same kitchen table and sharing a dressing room are over. The Saracens fly-half is also having to come to terms with the possibility of starting at inside-centre for England against Scotland at Murrayfield on 6 February.
While the 24-year-old knows England’s new assistant coaches Steve Borthwick and Paul Gustard well from their time at Saracens, it is a fresh outlook all round but Farrell is adamant his father’s absence will have no effect. “It’s no different for me. He’s part of a new setup now and that’s his challenge. For me, you just get on with what’s in front of you. It’s always been the case. I’ve had him around a fair bit since I started playing but it’s always been separate to him being my dad.
“I’ve never gone into a camp and sat down and had a coffee with him – unless it was for him to tell me off about something rugby related. There was never that dynamic anyway, so it’s just like working with a new coach. It will be exactly the same.”
Farrell remains supportive of his father and suggests Ireland have secured a top-quality coach. “From my experiences, yeah, but that’s my opinion.” In some respects, though, he accepts it may help silence those who alleged Farrell senior had too much influence over how he played. “Not everyone said that the dynamic worked well, did they? But I’m not at home any more and he’s moving to Dublin anyway. It’s not like I’m going to be round his house every night now, so we’ll see.”
Farrell said he will not seek to change his game radically if England’s new head coach, Eddie Jones, asks him to switch to 12 and form a starting partnership with George Ford. “I don’t think someone would pick me at 12 to knock the ball up with every carry I do,” he said. “If someone wanted me to play at 12 it would be for a reason – hopefully because you have the skill set to play the way they’d want you to at 12.”
Wasps insisted their England forwards Joe Launchbury and James Haskell will be fit for the Six Nations despite missing Sunday’s trip to Toulon. Wasps’ director of rugby, Dai Young, said it would be irresponsible to play Launchbury after he took “a couple of big bangs” against Worcester last Sunday but he has been free of subsequent concussion symptoms.
Haskell has been suffering from illness as well as a shoulder knock but is also expected to return for next week’s final pool game against Leinster.
