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Owen Farrell panned in French media for latest Racing 92 performance
By Ian Cameron
Owen Farrell has come under heavy criticism in the French media following Racing 92’s 27-20 home defeat to Castres at the La Défense Arena.
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It’s been a difficult season for Farrell, who was previously named this season’s Top 14’s biggest flop.
The former England fly-half – who recently returned from a prolonged injury layoff – has now been singled out by Midi Olympique for a dismal performance in the Top 14 clash.
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“Disappointing since the start of the season, Owen Farrell delivered a more than worrying performance on Saturday evening. Will he ever return to his former level?” wrote Marc Duzan for the French rugby publication, describing the 33-year-old’s outing as “probably his worst performance” since joining Racing 92 last summer.
Farrell started at ten but missed four tackles and struggled to get a grip on the contest. His passing was described as “particularly slow” while his kicking lacked the precision expected of a player of his calibre. Racing’s backline failed to fire and Farrell – fairly or unfairly – has copped most of the blame.
Questions over Farrell’s ability to adapt to the demands of the Top 14 have grown louder, with Midi Olympique remarking: “Is Farrell still strong enough to play in the Top 14? Will he one day find the level that was his for a long time?”
Racing 92’s struggles this season have placed head coach Stuart Lancaster under pressure. Farrell’s mediocre form has compounded the club’s woes, with Midi Olympique noting his limited contributions due to injury and his inability to reclaim kicking duties from teammates Nolann Le Garrec and Tristan Tedder.
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It’s not just the French media who have been having a go at Farrell. A borderline tackle against the Stormers last weekend in the Champions Cup also drew fire on social media platform X.
Owen Farrell Special 😭😭😭 pic.twitter.com/SkBaX3kI2g
— DummySwitchPod (@DummySwitchPod) January 21, 2025
In his defence Farrell isn’t the only big name overseas star to have struggled at the Parisian club. Johnny Sexton, a similar character to the Englishman, never really settled in his two seasons in Paris back in 2013-15. Dan Carter also arguably failed to live up to his billing at the club over three seasons despite a €1,500,000 a season price-tag.
With the British and Irish Lions tour on the horizon however, Farrell’s hopes of selection are very much in the air. Unless he rediscovers some decent form soon, the former Saracens star risks falling out of contention altogether.
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Owen will bounce back . He has never been much of a sprightly athlete. But the injury he had does take time to regain ones confidence.
Saracens tactics were built around Owens strengths , Same with Sexton at Leinster . Same with the national teams basically. Sexton failed because he had to become an all round rugby player in France , not just, basically, a kicker and same with Owen . You need speed and guile and even their most avid fans would not say they were/are fleet of foot.
Wilko was superb in France so you can win them over if you are good enough . Unfortunately not many of the EX Six nations players who have gone over there since can hold a candle to Johnny,s success.
Here we go, French people doing what they do best, disrespecting anyone who dares play in their country. These people are impossible
Ask To Willis...
No surprise Farrell has been overrated for many years.
So Johnny Sexton and Siya Kolisi didn't enjoy happy times there either. Maybe it's the club and their owner who are at fault?
And judging by the huge difference in pay limits between the Pro14 and the rest of the unions in the EPRC, maybe it's time to forget it until some equivalence is achieved and just carry on with the absolutely brilliant URC, letting the frogs stew in the juice of their own making.
Not much of a wrap in last weeks tackle.
It looks like Racing dominated the game in nearly every respect, would you blame the 10 for not being able to finish? Seems like that was the gist of it.
Some crazy stats
Racing v Castres
Ruck Speed
69% 0-3 secs 39%
19% 3-6 secs 35%
12% 6+ secs 27%
109 Rucks Won 51
That's a lot of quick ball, and it showed in their attack strength
204 Passes 120
136 Ball Carries 81
368m Post Contact Metres 202m
Owen v 9's Clovis Le Bail (Antoine Gibert)
6 Kicks 6(5)
37 Passes 49 (44)
So certainly with resting le Garrec one might have expected Owen to take over and run the show entirely, but according to a authors recent article on this site that expectation would be mistake. Owen was high on many other important stats anyway. Fans might have seen Castres kick twice as often as Racing and construe that as the reason for the win? One shouldn't really expect Racing to kick that much given the dominance they showed. What success did Castres get out of theres?
Fat and Transparent.
Anonymous and formless