{"id":358808,"date":"2024-01-10T02:50:51","date_gmt":"2024-01-10T03:50:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=358808"},"modified":"2024-01-10T06:02:30","modified_gmt":"2024-01-10T06:02:30","slug":"england-blindsided-by-farrell-exit-rumours","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=358808","title":{"rendered":"England blindsided by Farrell exit rumours"},"content":{"rendered":"

Chatter that Owen Farrell could take an extended sabbatical from Test rugby has blindsided teammates of the former England<\/a> captain.<\/p>\n

Rumours recently emerged that Farrell is considering a break to play in the Top 14 competition for French outfit Racing 92.<\/p>\n

In a statement, the team confirmed it had not signed Farrell yet but didn't deny talks.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Watch the World Rugby Sevens on the home of rugby, Stan Sport.<\/strong><\/em> Every round exclusive, ad free, live and on demand<\/strong><\/em><\/a><\/p>\n

Racing 92 is known to be looking to replace Finn Russell of Scotland, who left to join Bath in the Premiership Rugby competition.<\/p>\n

\"Owen<\/p>\n

Farrell had already made himself unavailable for the upcoming Six Nations and it's expected Jamie George will take his place as captain in the interim.<\/p>\n

Speaking with BBC Radio 5, the hooker said the news came as a surprise.<\/p>\n

"We don't know whether he's leaving or not. The speculation only broke recently so it came as a shock to absolutely everyone," said George.<\/p>\n

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"I think Owen's quite a private person generally. Myself and Owen are very close so it's something we probably will have a conversation about but I haven't spoken to him about it yet.<\/p>\n

"Ultimately it's his decision, whatever he wants to do, whether he stays or goes. I know he's going to be choosing the right thing for him and his family."<\/p>\n

\"Jamie<\/p>\n

A move to Racing 92 would mark a reunion of sorts for Farrell.<\/p>\n

Former England head coach Stuart Lancaster is the incumbent head coach at Racing 92.<\/p>\n

In any case, George is ready to take the reins if Farrell is unavailable long-term.<\/p>\n

"I know it's easier said than done but I don't think I'd allow that captaincy position to change my thought process or how much I read into the media and the scrutiny that might come with it. I generally try and stay level-headed," George explained.<\/p>\n

"Obviously I've never been captain of my country before and if that does happen, that is something that I would have to assess.<\/p>\n

"But I'm lucky that I've got really good people around me and I'm just flattered to be in the conversation."<\/p>\n

\"Owen<\/p>\n

The 32-year-old Farrell stepped down from the captaincy citing his family's and his own mental health after swathes of online abuse.<\/p>\n

"We all have to deal with it and it's an unfortunate part of the job," said George.<\/p>\n

"I try my best not to read too much. I certainly stay off Twitter and don't read too much of the media, and I think that's served me pretty well.<\/p>\n

"My message to everyone having been through it with Owen recently is that we're human beings. We make mistakes and it's not overly beneficial writing negative things about people online, and we really hope we can see a change with that.<\/p>\n

"I think it's been incredibly courageous from Owen to step away from international rugby to put his mental health first and hopefully that's a sign to people that we are human beings, we do have families and it can be very very hurtful."<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Chatter that Owen Farrell could take an extended sabbatical from Test rugby has blindsided teammates of the former England captain. Rumours recently emerged that Farrell […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":358810,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/358808"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=358808"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/358808\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":358814,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/358808\/revisions\/358814"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/358810"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=358808"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=358808"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=358808"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}