Owen Farrell’s Saracens form shows he could be the perfect 10 for England

You will not be shocked to read that Farrell has been at the centre of Saracens’ attacking prowess. Behold where he sits in the Premiership’s assisting and offloading charts.

Saracens told us this was coming way back at the start of the season. Angered by the defeat to Leicester Tigers in the Premiership final last summer, Farrell rallied his team in September and told them to change their attacking mindset. Play what you see, and have a plan B, was the message.

This is how Jamie George described it in October. “We didn’t have a plan B to Leicester’s kicking game and there’s been a mindset shift — and a few, not massive, technical shifts around our attacking shape,” he said. “We want to get back behind the ball and play what’s in front of us, whether that’s to play or to kick. We’ve always had a really nice attacking shape but we’re trying to get better within that and find ways of breaking teams down and pull them about a bit more.

“Owen has been at the forefront of that, driving it, as he does with everything. It’s been hugely exciting to be a part of. When the weather turns a bit, it might look slightly different, but we back ourselves and the great players that we have to get the ball in their hands as much as we can.”

Farrell calls it a “progression” rather than a total change in style. In the early part of the season — until the weather turned — Saracens swashbuckled their way to nine wins from nine, blowing everyone off the park. Then just before Christmas they took their eyes off the ball and lost to London Irish. So the comeback, Saturday’s 35-3 mincing of Exeter Chiefs on the last day of 2022, was vicious and timely.

It also would have made Steve Borthwick, the new England head coach, sit up and take notice. It provided more proof that Farrell is still a master tactician at No 10 with flicks and tricks as well as tactical intelligence.

Farrell’s form and attacking prowess could make him the logical pick at fly half for England in the Six Nations

MATT IMPEY/REX FEATURES

Borthwick’s biggest selection call for the Scotland match on February 4 — just over four weeks away — is who to play at fly half. Marcus Smith, we understand, is a week or so away from a return for Harlequins.

We also have learnt that Borthwick, it comes as little surprise, has been in telephone contact with his old Leicester Tigers playmaker George Ford. Ford is now at Sale Sharks, although he has not played for them since joining last summer as he attempts to overcome his achilles injury suffered in the Premiership final.

He is training, kicking and could face Bath on January 27 at a push — but at Sale they think he may wear an England shirt before a Sharks one.

And then there is Farrell — Eddie Jones’s No 12, but a man who is so clearly dominant at No 10 for his club, which he demonstrated again against Exeter in a number of ways. Let’s see how.

On a wet and windy afternoon, he managed the conditions perfectly at the StoneX. Farrell kicked with his first three possessions — and despite the statistics we gave you above, he still kicks a fair amount (24 per cent of the time he had the ball in 2022 for Saracens, as opposed to a very low seven per cent of the times he carries). The second strike was this, a perfect 50:22.

Farrell stood flat to the line a lot against the Chiefs, and Exeter tried to rush his passing. However, he almost always found a way out of it — whether with a kick or a pass.

Farrell found his range with two floated wide passes (one to Max Malins who then butchered a glaring two-on-one chance) before going to the boot again. This grubber for Sean Maitland expertly exploited the gap between Henry Slade and Jack Nowell, and was executed on the run. Lovely.

Many of Farrell’s clever kicks found the turf, often around the full back Josh Hodge, as he pulled the Chiefs this way and that. He did drop the ball once in the second half in attack, but otherwise his handling was sublime.

First, watch this quick flick for Malins under pressure.

And then the money maker — this ridiculous assist for Alex Lewington.

To do that in tricky conditions, and with a smile on his face, shows how confident Farrell is in his club shirt. He wants his team to use the gains they made in September to November to drive through the wind and rain of December-February.

Farrell said: “Probably the tough thing at times is we got a lot back from it really early on in the season and we scored a lot of tries, the weather was good, and it is that time of year now when we have to keep making good decisions. That might be making different decisions to what we did at the start of the year, might be playing a little bit tighter, you don’t know until you get there, we want to ready for it all and ready to win a game in different ways.”

Joe Shaw, the Saracens head coach, added: “Our attack, when it’s been dry, has given us some great confidence this year. It has probably given him a bit more space and offloads have been clearer. It’s nice to see him enjoying himself.

“Trying to lead a team in those conditions, not just in terms of management of where you are, the decisions of going for goal, to the corners, understanding your range is tough. That’s when you see the ultimate game managers and leaders and he’s very much at the forefront of that.

“When you look at this season and see some of the games we’ve played, the tries we’ve scored, the person at the centre of that is Owen. The offloads, final passes, he’s been right at the front showing off his skillset. That was another one of those special performances.”

For Borthwick, Farrell’s performance at fly half is a perfect blueprint for beating Scotland in the Six Nations opener. It’s always tight, testy and invariably wet and wild at the start of the tournament.

Saracens use Nick Tompkins a lot at first receiver, as a ball-carrying No 12 who makes space for Farrell to work his magic. Enter the English fray Dan Kelly, or Ollie Lawrence, or a more fired up Manu Tuilagi, if Borthwick is to use the Sarries style.

Statistically 2022 was Farrell’s best year for Saracens in terms of offloading and making tries.

Borthwick’s challenge will be upping Farrell’s numbers for England — where he has failed to hit the attacking heights he reached in the middle of his career, between 2017 and 2019.

Do that and Farrell’s third act may yet be his best.