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'Bad guy' Owen Farrell the target of another barrage from Ireland's most controversial rugby pundit

(Photo by Dan Mullan/Getty Images)

England captain Owen Farrell has yet again been the target of a barrage from Ireland’s most controversial rugby pundit – Neil Francis.

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The long retired Ireland international says that Farrell’s behaviour as England captain has set the tone for the rest of his team.

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This fresh attack comes just a week after the former second row called for Manu Tuilagi to be banned for life for his KO tackle on George North in the Six Nations.

Writing in the Sunday Independent Francis wants World Rugby to come down hard on Owen Farrell and people who behave like him.

“When the person charged with ensuring discipline and rugby ethics is the one subverting it, well then where are you?” writes Francis.

“I don’t know Owen Farrell and our paths have never crossed. By accounts, he is not a bad fella off the pitch – but on it…”

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“You do get the impression that if the captain is behaving badly then it’s OK for everyone to do it.”

“You get the sense of something about England. A tipping point is not far away.”

Francis also takes Eddie Jones to task for not stamping out the behaviour, which he argues sanctions it.

“How many bad guys do they have in their team? Marler, Kyle Sinckler, Ellis Genge, Courtney Lawes, Owen Farrell, Manu Tuilagi – that is quite the quorum. Farrell’s predecessor as captain, Dylan Hartley, was another beauty.

“It is about riding the line – it is fine and fair to bring an edge and be as competitive as you can be, but when you step over the line and do it consistently there have to be heavy sanctions and eventually non-selection… unless the guy in charge sees nothing wrong with it.

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“While the rugby world sleeps, maybe its masters might draw up a new charter on dealing with poor behaviour before it becomes the new normal.”

Francis is infamous for his column. Following the Rugby World Cup he suggested putting an asterisk beside the Springboks’ Rugby World Cup win due to the proliferation of steroids in South Africa.

He also famously branded the Leinster team of the early noughties ‘ladyboys’ and once suggested former Wales and Lions head coach Warren Gatland had the “intellectual properties of a tub of flora”.

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JW 42 minutes ago
James O'Connor, the Lions and the great club v country conundrum

Lol you need to shoot your editor for that headline, even I near skipped the article.


France simply need to go to a league format for the Brennus, that will shave two weekends of pointless knockout rugby from their season and raise the competitions standards and mystique no end.


The under age loophole is also a easy door to shut, just remove the lower age limit. WR simply never envisioned a day were teams would target people under the age of 17 or whatever it is now, but much like with Rassie and his use of subs bench, that day was obviously always going to come. I can’t remember how football does it, I think it’s the other way around with them, you can’t sign anyone younger than that but unions can’t stop 17 or 18 yo’s from leaving for a pro club if they want to. There is a transaction that takes place of a few hundred thousand for a normal average player. I’d prefer rugby to be stricter and just keep the union bodies signoff being required.


What really was their problem with Kite and co leaving though? Do we really need a game dominated by Internationals? I even think WR’s proposed calendar might be a bit too much, with at minimum 12 top tier games being played in the World Championship. I think 10 to 12, maybe any one player playing 10 of those 12 is the best way to think of it, for every international team is max, so that they can allow their domestic comps to shine if they want, and other nations like Japan and Fiji can, even some of the home nations maybe, and fill out their calendar with extra tours if they like them as a way to make money. As it is RA don’t have as good a pathway system, so they could simply buy back those players if they turn good. Are they worried they’ll be less likely to? We wait for baited breath for the new season to be laid out in front of us by WR.

It could impose sanctions on the Fédération Française de Rugby, but the body which runs the Top 14 and the ProD2, the Ligue Nationale de Rugby, is entirely independent.

It’s not independent at all. The LNR is a body under, and commissioned by, the FFR (and Government control) to mediate the clubs. FFR can simply install a new club competition if they don’t listen, then you’d see whether the players want to stay at any club who doesn’t tow the line and move to the new competition, as they obviously wouldn’t fall under the auspice of world rugby. They would be rebels, which is fine in and upon itself, but they would isolate themselves from the rest of the game and would need to be OK with that. I have no doubt whatsoever that clubs would have to and want to fall in line to remain part of the EPCR and French rugby. Probably even the last thing they would want is to compete with another French domestic competition that has all the advantages they don’t.


All those players would do good for a few seasons in France, especially the fringe ones, with thankfully zero risk of them being poached if they turn good. New Zealand had a turn at keeping all of it’s talent, and while it upticked the competitiveness of the Super Rugby teams into a total dominance of Australian and South African counterparts (who were suffering more heavily than most the other way at that stage), it didn’t have as positive an effect on the next step up as ensuring young talents development is not hindered does. Essentially NZR flooded the locate market with players but inevitably it didn’t think the local economy could sustain any more pro teams itself, so now we are seeing a normal amount of exodus for the availability of places again. Are Australia in exactly the same footing? I think so, finances where dicey for a while perhaps but I doubt they are putting money constraints on their contracting now. It’s purely about who leaves to open up opportunity.

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Colin Friels 2 hours ago
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