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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Sport
Alex Spink

Owen Farrell turned into Saracens 'head coach' whilst injured says Jamie George

Jamie George stuck it in the top bin at his first attempt when he went on Soccer AM at the weekend.

He also holed-in-one on the golf course chosen to host the first event of the Saudi-backed golf Super League in June.

But ask him who has been the most significant contributor to Saracens’ years of success in English rugby and without hesitation he points not to himself but to Owen Farrell.

On Sunday, the day after George brought the house down with his right foot volley into the top corner, Farrell produced a masterclass in Sarries’ defeat of Exeter.

It was only his ninth game of an injury-ravaged season yet George is shocked that anyone was remotely surprised by his level of performance.

“Owen is one of the best players that has ever played the game,” said the England hooker.

“He is the best player I have worked with in every facet of the game.

George: "Owen is the very reason why we have won as much as we have” (Phil Hutchinson/UK Sports Pics Ltd)

“Some of the criticism he gets, I can never get my head around.

“Come down to Saracens every week and watch him play, he is the very reason why we have won as much as we have.”

George revealed that while Farrell was sidelined from club and England duty by two serious ankle injuries, the playmaker “turned into our head coach”.

He added: “He is that good. He offers so much on and off the field. He is so, so important to this team.

“With his voice, with his actions, in the week the way he prepares, he shows people how it is done. I can’t speak highly enough of him.”

A feature of Sunday’s game was how Farrell grabbed the contest by the scruff of the neck after Exeter had gone into half-time ahead.

When he wasn’t bellowing out instructions and encouragement to team mates he was letting his own play speak for him.

“Can you imagine playing with him?” said George. “People hear him on the ref mic or whatever but imagine being next to that when it is happening.

“Do you know how hard it is to talk whilst you are that tired? I talk a lot but there are stages in the game when I think ‘I can’t do it’.

Farrell hobbles off Twickenham after damaging ankle ligaments against Australia in November (Shaun Botterill/Getty Images)

“He does it for 80 minutes, non-stop, relentlessly. It is all of the stuff people don’t see.”

Farrell missed England’s entire Six Nations campaign, in fact he started only one Test all season, against Australia in November when he suffered ligament damage that required surgery.

With him back fit and in form it feels like anything is possible for Sarries in the remainder of the campaign.

“We want to win the league, as simple as that,” said George. “We also want to win Europe and we have the potential to do that if we get our head down and get some work done.”

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