Owen Farrell set to quit Racing for a Premiership return this summer with Dan Lancaster also crossing the English Channel – report
Owen Farrell is reportedly set to quit Racing 92 just one season into a two-year deal
Racing 92 fly-half Owen Farrell is reportedly on his way back to the Gallagher Premiership this summer, and Parisian teammate Dan Lancaster could join him in crossing the Channel as he has been linked with a switch to the United Rugby Championship.
Ex-England skipper Farrell joined Racing ahead of the 2024/25 season on a two-year deal after he decided his future would be best served with a move away from Saracens. However, injuries have blighted the flow of his maiden year in France.
The mid-season sacking of Stuart Lancaster, the ex-England coach, as the Racing director of rugby is also believed to have taken its toll, and the 33-year-old has now been linked with a return to Mark McCall’s Saracens despite still having a year to run on his existing contract.
A report in L’Equipe, the French sports daily newspaper, read: “A strange plot is taking shape around Plessis-Robinson, Racing’s training ground. According to our information, England international fly-half Owen Farrell, who arrived in France last summer, has reportedly expressed a wish not to complete his contract with the Parisian club.
“Currently suffering from a concussion – a problem that is plaguing him – Farrell would like to play less and, above all, start to move into a player-coach role at Saracens, the club of his life, with whom he has won three Champions Cups.
“A disappointment, a flop even…”
“If Owen Farrell does indeed consider leaving the Top 14, he will likely have to comply with Racing’s financial terms, which will never agree to compromise without decent compensation.
“For Jacky Lorenzetti, who has always had an admitted weakness for world-class number 10s, Farrell’s arrival is, if the story ends there, a disappointment, a flop even, somewhat reminiscent of Johnny Sexton’s time in Hauts-de-Seine. In any case, Farrell hasn’t made us forget Dan Carter, Johan Goosen, Pat Lambie, or Finn Russell.
“It must be said that everything went rather badly: he wanted to play a lot and even too much right away while he was dragging a hamstring injury; he ended up being forced to have an operation. He played too much again during his return to training and got injured again.
“In short, he had very little impact on Racing’s game, even though everyone continued to praise his daily investment. The departure in January of the man who had brought him in (Stuart Lancaster, the coach who had launched him in the England team at a young age) probably influenced his thinking.”
The Farrell exit report from Paris emerged on Monday, the day after Saracens confirmed that Kevin Sorrell, their current backs coach, is to leave the Londoners following a 30-year involvement, initially as a player and then as a coach.
There was also speculation regarding Dan Lancaster, Stuart Lancaster’s son, who is also on the books at Racing but won’t be kept on.
“The number 10 issue is likely to become very sensitive for Racing in the coming days or weeks,” continued the L’Equipe report.
“With Farrell’s departure in the making, they’ll have to contend with the departure of Dan Lancaster, who had only signed for one season and will not be retained despite several solid performances in recent months.
“According to our information, Lancaster junior will join Glasgow with the hope of being selected for the Scottish national team, which his family tree allows him to do.”
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