New year, new start. Or, in the case of Owen Farrell and English rugby, the most extreme of potential makeovers. If the erstwhile England captain links up with Racing 92 in Paris, as seems increasingly on the cards, it will be the most hotly debated Anglo-French marriage since Henry VIII’s 18-year-old sister, Mary, married Louis XII, the 52-year-old King of France, in 1514.
This latter liaison, as it happens, lasted only three months before Louis died as a consequence of either gout or (allegedly) his exertions in the bedchamber. And they say modern rugby is bad for you. Here’s hoping the 32-year-old Farrell, should he relocate across the Channel, is able to enjoy a less fraught experience and rediscovers the missing joie de vivre that has already led him to step aside from the national squad.
Whether he stays or goes, though, the Saracens fly-half has given the English game the most abrupt of January wake-up calls. Is this really the shape of things to come: the Premiership unable to compete with the wealthiest Top 14 clubs, even north London’s most cherished crown jewels vulnerable to Gallic raiders? Nor are we just talking about the Top 14. The weekend sighting of Courtney Lawes at the ProD2 side Provence – who have already signed his former British & Irish Lions teammate George North – offered a further glimpse of the way the oval-ball wind is increasingly blowing.
Should they join the migration south, Farrell and Lawes will find themselves among numerous other old friends. Already it is possible to pick an entire XV of England-qualified players who have been employed in France within the past 12 months: Henry Arundell, Jack Nowell, Christian Wade, Joe Marchant, Joe Simmonds, Dan Robson, Sam Simmonds, Zach Mercer (now at Gloucester), Jack and Tom Willis, David Ribbans, Junior Kpoku, Harry Williams, Kieran Brookes and Jack Singleton. Had Luke Cowan-Dickie completed his proposed move to Montpellier the matchday squad options would be even stronger.
None of the above names, though, compare with the potential luring of Farrell. Not unlike Harry Kane’s move from Tottenham Hotspur to Bayern Munich, it also serves to illustrate that sporting fulfilment for England’s warrior kings no longer begins and ends at Dover. The big difference, of course, is that Kane remains free to pull on the three lions in the Euros this summer. Joining Bayern does not necessitate saying bye-bye to his international place.
For Farrell, in contrast, going abroad is a whole different ball game. As things stand he has made himself unavailable for England, citing his desire to prioritise his and his family’s mental wellbeing. But hang on. Let’s say he goes to France, begins to feel rejuvenated in his summer deckchair and is keen to join a 2025 Lions squad due to be coached by his father, Andy. What then? In theory, he could be still selected for the Lions via the Top 14 and play a series-winning role ahead of England’s starting 10 in that season’s Six Nations.
What a cloud of giant hornets that scenario would unleash around the Rugby Football Union, particularly if England are underperforming. Already the union’s leading executives are under mounting pressure following their failure to persuade the hugely exciting Arundell – and maybe now Farrell as well – to re-sign in England. On the one hand it is every professional’s prerogative to go where they feel is best for them and their family. Equally it is not a great look for Twickenham’s mandarins when two of the leading talents in England appear keener to pull on the ciel et blanc jersey of Racing. Does a red rose on the chest not have the same inexorable pull?
For now, either way, the official RFU line remains stern: anyone wishing to represent England has to be based in England, barring exceptional circumstances. Clearly there is a desire to avoid a hollowed-out Premiership and to retain as much shiny, happy English talent as possible. All of which is understandable. The snag is that the world has moved on. Look at cricket where the top English players barely play red – or white – ball games for their counties any more. What about the serial World Cup winners South Africa, the bulk of whose squad is now based overseas?
And with RFU central funds already stretched, surely some middle ground could be found to suit all parties? Either offer senior squad members the option of a one-off sabbatical abroad at some stage in their careers or permit the national team two ‘wildcard picks’ per tournament, if needed, for non-Premiership based players aged 30 and above. At a stroke the RFU would be showing empathy towards its best players, rewarding its most loyal servants, helping to reduce Premiership wage bills and assisting a grateful national coach.
Instead, there is only inflexibility. When someone like Farrell, who has lived in St Albans since he was a teenager, fancies a little taste of life outside an increasingly claustrophobic bubble, where is the humanity in effectively forcing him to abandon his country as well? If it is a question of pour encourager les autres to quote Voltaire (that veteran marquee signing of French literature) just tell the next generation they will enjoy the same leeway once they’ve won 100 caps, simplement.
Or just recall what unfolded after Jonny Wilkinson decided to swap Newcastle for the south of France in 2009. Wilkinson helped Toulon win three European titles and earned his last 21 England caps while based beside the Mediterranean. And his captain for seven of those ex-pat Tests? None other than Steve Borthwick. If the RFU wishes to signal its support for a world-weary Farrell and soften his impending exile, there is a decent precedent.
• This article was amended on 9 January 2023. An earlier version referred to Henry XIII when Henry VIII was intended.
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