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Wily Owen Farrell met by chorus of boos from Bath crowd
By Josh Raisey
Though the penalty kick to deliver a victory for Saracens over Bath on Friday night was as simple as kicks come for Owen Farrell, he made sure he used every second of the minute allotted to him.
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With the scores locked at 12-12 at the Rec between the then-second-place Bath and the third-place Saracens in the Gallagher Premiership, Farrell had a penalty right in front of the hosts’ posts with just three minutes remaining.
For a player that has 1,271 Test points, this kick was a guaranteed three points, but the former England captain wanted to make sure he wasted as much time as possible to prevent Bath from securing a comeback win having been 12-0 down at halftime.
Equally, Farrell has overstepped his mark before, and was famously timed out at the World Cup last year against Samoa while taking a penalty.
The 32-year-old was not going to let history repeat itself though, and even had referee Luke Pearce serve as his personal timekeeper as the seconds ticked down.
This did not go down too well with the Bath crowd though, who made their displeasure felt.
Farrell was unmoved though as he sipped his Lucozade and sauntered to the tee to knock over the three points.
Saracens held on for a 15-12 win to leapfrog Bath into second place in the league, putting them in place to earn a home semi-final with two rounds remaining.
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Farrell was named player of the match in a display that he said the reigning champions felt “more comfortable”.
“It is a tough old place to come. It always has been, but especially this year,” Farrell told TNT Sports.
“They are a top, top side. For us to come here and stick in the fight like we did after a couple of tough results we’ve had of late was tremendous.
“We’ve gone back to being a little bit more ourselves today. We felt more comfortable.
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“By no means was that perfect. There were loads of mistakes, but we fought for each other and we enjoyed doing it.”
Lesson learned 😅⏱️@owen_faz keeps his eye on the clock as he kicks for the win!#GallagherPrem pic.twitter.com/EEan0LAvYT
— Rugby on TNT Sports (@rugbyontnt) April 26, 2024
