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Carling: Twitter trolls' abuse of Owen Farrell fueled by jealousy

Owen Farrell /Getty

Former England captain Will Carling has branded the on-going abuse of Owen Farrell as ‘so wrong’ and believes it is at least partly down to jealously.

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Current England skipper Owen Farrell was again in the cross hairs of critics following the dramatic Wales England Guinness Six Nations clash in Cardiff.

Both Farrell’s discussions with match day referee Pascal Gauzere – after the Frenchman awarded a try to Josh Adams in dubious circumstances –  and his at times curt post-match interview with the BBC’s Sonja McLaughlan, were pinpointed by trolls who went in hard on the flyhalf on Twitter.

There were undeniable shades of Mike Brown’s infamous 2015 interview after host England lost to Wales in the pool stages of the Rugby World Cup and Farrell’s many critics were happy to make hay.

This morning Carling, who has been involved with England coaching in recent years, has come to the defence of Farrell, stating that ‘a losing England captain’ is far more likely to be subjected to abuse than his peers in the competition.

“Some of worst elements of Twitter appear after sport. The tirade of abuse for Farrell is so wrong. Due to jealousy and supposed national pride. A losing England captain is subjected to more abuse than any other 6 Nations. The man played well and was dignified during interviews.”

Carling himself was the subject of plenty of flak back in his playing days, albeit over a decade before the advent of social media. Carling’s private life provided regular fodder for the British red-tops in the 1990s, long before members of the general public had the ability to direct digital abuse at celebrities via social media.

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It was a bad weekend for the sport regarding the online behavior of fans. McLaughlan, the other participant in the pitch-side interview with Farrell, was left in tears in her car after the match.

“Toxic, embarrassing, disgraceful, appalling. Just some of the feedback I’ve had. Thanks for using @ sign so it’s all hit home,” wrote McLaughlan. “Now imagine getting inundated with abuse for doing your job. In my car crying. Hope you’re happy.”

 

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JW 1 hour ago
'Passionate reunion of France and New Zealand shows Fabien Galthie is wrong to rest his stars'

Where? I remember saying "unders"? The LNR was formed by the FFR, if I said that in a way that meant the 'pro' side of the game didn't have an equal representation/say as the 'amateur' side (FFR remit) that was not my intent.


But also, as it is the governing body, it also has more responsibility. As long as WR looks at FFR as the running body for rugby in France, that 'power' will remain. If the LNR refuses to govern their clubs use of players to enable a request by FFR (from WR) to ensure it's players are able to compete in International rugby takes place they will simply remove their participation. If the players complain to the France's body, either of their health and safety concerns (through playing too many 'minutes' etc) or that they are not allowed to be part in matches of national interest, my understanding is action can be taken against the LNR like it could be any other body/business. I see where you're coming from now re EPCR and the shake up they gave it, yes, that wasn't meant to be a separate statement to say that FFR can threaten them with EPCR expulsion by itself, simply that it would be a strong repercussion for those teams to be removed (no one would want them after the above).


You keep bringing up these other things I cannot understand why. Again, do you think if the LNR were not acting responsibly they would be able to get away with whatever they want (the attitude of these posters saying "they pay the players")? You may deem what theyre doing currently as being irresponsible but most do not. Countries like New Zealand have not even complained about it because they've never had it different, never got things like windfall TV contracts from France, so they can't complain because theyre not missing out on anything. Sure, if the French kept doing things like withholding million dollar game payments, or causing millions of dollars of devaluation in rights, they these things I'm outlining would be taking place. That's not the case currently however, no one here really cares what the French do. It's upto them to sort themselves out if they're not happy. Now, that said, if they did make it obvious to World Rugby that they were never going to send the French side away (like they possibly did stating their intent to exclude 20 targeted players) in July, well then they would simply be given XV fixtures against tier 2 sides during that window and the FFR would need to do things like the 50/50 revenue split to get big teams visiting in Nov.

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