Andy Goode: Owen Farrell’s exclusion ‘makes complete sense’ as new England ‘fulcrum’ emerges
England and Saracens playmaker Owen Farrell with an inset of Fin and Marcus Smith.
Ex-England fly-half Andy Goode says that Owen Farrell’s exclusion from Steve Borthwick’s squad for the Autumn Nations Series makes ‘complete sense’ with a changing of the guard taking place.
The former captain enjoyed a strong return to international rugby in July with the British and Irish Lions featuring in the second and third Tests after replacing Saracens clubmate Elliot Daly in the touring squad.
Farrell hasn’t played for England since the 2023 Rugby World Cup in France, where Borthwick’s charges were beaten in the semi-finals by the eventual champions South Africa.
Last year, he opted to step away from international rugby and focus on his club form, having fallen out of love with playing at the highest level. He became ineligible to represent England soon after when he joined French club Racing 92.
Owen Farrell’s self-imposed exile
He is eligible once again after returning to PREM Rugby, rejoining Saracens; however, his self-imposed exile has seemingly extended through to this year’s Autumn Nations Series with his exclusion from Borthwick’s squad.
“Owen has gone out quite publicly and said a number of times that for right now, it’s just to get back to playing rugby back in England, enjoying his rugby after a difficult year injury-wise last season,” Borthwick told Sky Sports after naming his squad.
“We’re only a handful of games into this season, so I don’t think that’s a discussion for right now.”
He added: “My attitude to these kind of situations is that the door is never closed. As far as I’m concerned, I’m watching every English player playing. What I would say is, there’s a lot of very good players in the squad right now. Players that I am enjoying working with.”
While his omission does look to be a personal choice at the moment, Goode believes that it is the correct call from the coaching team, too, as it allows Fin Smith to stamp his mark.
He adds that Farrell will simply slot back in when the time is right and if he wants to.
Absence makes sense
“Owen Farrell is the only other real big-name absentee and while he is coming off the back of a British & Irish Lions tour, he hasn’t played loads of rugby recently, and it makes complete sense to me that he hasn’t been included,” Goode wrote in his Rugby Pass column.
“Assuming he actually wants to play for England again, he’ll be back involved over the course of the next year if his form continues to be good, but we all know what he can do, and it’s Fraser Dingwall and Max Ojomoh’s time to shine.
“The latter made his debut against the USA in the summer and has started this season on fire, while the former is in pole position after starting the last couple of Six Nations games. They’ve started just five Tests between them and we need to see what they can do at the highest level with a run in the team.”
Borthwick has named fly-halves George Ford, Fin and Marcus Smith in his squad, and while there will be some debate on who should start in the white number ten jersey, Goode believes that it’s a straightforward, no-brainer decision.
He believes that the Northampton Saints playmaker can become the new ‘fulcrum’ of the England backline for years to come because of the consistency in his performances.
Fin Smith’s rise
“It’s always bound to cause a debate and even more so when George Ford did so well on the victorious tour to Argentina, but it’s a no-brainer for me and Fin Smith has to start,” he added.
“He was the man in possession of the shirt before going on the Lions tour, has put in a couple of good performances for Northampton since his return and has a superb all-round game that gets the best out of those around him.
“He might not have the flashy moments or speed of a Beauden Barrett, for example, but he does everything to a level that’s an eight out of 10 or above and is still just 23 years of age, so could be the fulcrum of the side for the next decade.
“Ford did an outstanding job against the Pumas and has looked good with ball in hand again this season, but he’s one of the weakest players around defensively and we saw that at times against Saracens at the weekend, so that does still count against him.”
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