Owen Farrell is now officially captain of club and country. The England fly half has accepted the invitation to succeed Brad Barritt as Saracens captain before his first appearance for the club in the Greene King IPA Championship.
The 29-year-old is expected to play against Bedford Blues on Sunday as Saracens, relegated last season as punishment for salary-cap offences, attempt to win promotion back to the Gallagher Premiership at the first time of asking.
Eddie Jones, the England head coach, said during the Six Nations that Farrell was still learning the art of captaincy after his leadership of the national team had come under scrutiny.
However, he was the natural choice for Mark McCall, the Saracens director of rugby, who approached Farrell after Barritt retired at the end of last season.
“We are thrilled that Owen has accepted the invitation to become club captain,” McCall said. “In truth, he has been at the heart of the Saracens project from a young age and his leadership has been key to any success the club has had.
Advertisement
“Owen cares deeply about the club and his team-mates, he has a unique ability to inspire those around him, both by what he does and what he says. He is thoughtful, insightful and modest but at his core he is a competitor who will never stop trying to improve; he pushes everyone here to be better.”
Saracens had not intended to use their front-line international players in the Championship, apart from Billy Vunipola, who prefers to play rather than train. The club originally explored loan deals in Super Rugby to get the players some top-class rugby in preparation for the British & Irish Lions tour.
However, that plan had to be scrapped, initially because of Covid-19 and then because Saracens lost their first game of the Championship season, away to Cornish Pirates, and are playing catch-up in their efforts to win promotion.
Saracens must finish in the top two to qualify for a two-legged play-off final. They head into this weekend ten points behind leaders Ealing Trailfinders and seven points adrift of Doncaster Knights, in second place, with a game in hand.
Farrell has not played in the Championship since a brief loan spell with Bedford in 2010-11. He was recalled after four games when Saracens had an injury crisis at fly half and immediately established himself in the first team.
Advertisement
He ended that season kicking 17 points in the Premiership final to win the first of five league titles and has now made 201 appearances for the club his father represented as a player and coach after switching codes from rugby league
“It’s a massive honour, a big privilege [to be captain],” Farrell said. “This club’s been a massive part of my life for a long time now and to be asked to be captain is a massive privilege.
“There are a lot of people who are ingrained in this place, who know exactly what it’s all about and they’re the ones that drive it every day and the ones that know the standards that we set.
“There’s a lot of care around the place and that is shown in a lot of ways; driving each other, being honest with each other, supporting each other and that’s massive when it comes to working in the same place every day.
“When I think of all the good captains that I’ve been lucky enough to be under is that they’ve been themselves. They’ve learnt a lot but they’ve been themselves throughout and it’s important to be authentic.”
