![Pinterest](https://pinterest.com/pin/create/button/?url=https://uknews.evprotec.com/this-is-owen-farrell-captaincy-2-0-englands-enforcer-must-show-he-is-a-wiser-leader/&media=https://uknews.evprotec.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/TELEMMGLPICT000315063799_trans_NvBQzQNjv4BqqVzuuqpFlyLIwiB6NTmJwfyKvq_nGV8CVExf4qSbkzM.jpeg&description=It will be a fiery crucible in which these judgments are tested. Argentina, expertly marshalled by Jones' old Randwick compadre Michael Cheika, are nobody's idea of a warm-up act any longer. Barely two months ago, they vanquished the All Blacks in Christchurch. Farrell needs to rediscover his voice quickly. For all that Jones describes his leadership qualities as innate, Farrell represents his adjustment to captaincy as an evolution. 'Hopefully, from however long ago it was when I started captaining, I have got better,' he said. 'I have worked hard on it, so I hope I have got better while still being me.' This is about as far as Farrell will go in emphasising his own worth. He talks these days of a 'leadership group', of the support he receives through the empathetic input of his two lieutenants, Ellis Genge and Jack Nowell. It is a point I put to Jones, who has popularised this concept of a cadre of leaders in his two books. 'Don't believe everything you read in books, mate,' he smiles. But he acknowledges that Farrell's impact will be most keenly felt in how he deals with referee Andrew Brace. "It's a key, he said. "Look at how the game is evolving. Brace averages 2.1 yellow cards per game, so the chance of there being two yellow cards is pretty high on Sunday. The edict from World Rugby has come out really strongly about protecting the poacher so the number of yellow and red cards could increase. Therefore, your leadership needs to be able to adapt. Once the whistle goes, we can't get messages on to the field as coaches. There's only an opportunity during the water break after 20 minutes. So, the players have to respond." Farrell has had his difficulties persuading officials to accept his way of thinking before. He famously raged at Pascal Gauzere en route to defeat to Wales in Cardiff in 2021, and has found himself rebuked by Nigel Owens for his weakness for backchat. But at 31, Farrell radiates the air of a man who has learned from past misdeeds. Rarely has he){kind=link}
Eddie Jones has been fiercely loyal to Farrell and his skipper’s dealings with referee Andrew Brace against Argentina could be key
Owen Farrell’s captaincy of his country has, by any stretch, taken the scenic route. A faithful on-field general for Eddie Jones since 2018, he suffered the scalding indignity of being deposed last summer by Courtney Lawes, only to find himself triumphantly reinstated four months later. For most players, it would be an emotional maelstrom. Except Farrell is so phlegmatic, he regards any probing into his personal feelings almost as an affront.
“Emotion?” he shot back, surprised to be asked how much his latest anointing as England’s leader meant to him. “I wasn’t in any place of expectation. We have leaders throughout this team.” At times, you are tempted to ask who the true Farrell is. Is it the blank automaton he often becomes under public questioning? Or is it the Ciceronian orator portrayed by his team-mates and head coach? In announcing Farrell as captain for Sunday’s Test against Argentina, Jones ranked him among the three fiercest competitors he had ever known, alongside Australia’s George Gregan and South African John Smit.
This verdict echoes testimonies to his rhetoric in the dressing room. Before the World Cup final in 2019, hooker Jamie George said: “Owen says his bit and without fail, you could hear a pin drop. Everyone is hanging on every word he says. It is inspirational without tearing the roof down.” It is a side to Farrell’s nature that he seldom reveals to anybody outside his inner sanctum. But it is the decisive factor in why Jones, ahead of an autumn series that should offer the surest litmus test of England’s credentials to become world champions next October, entrusts him with the armband.
“Every time I coach Owen, you get 100 per cent,” Jones explained. “He wants to be captain, but we asked him, for the summer tour of Australia, to come back and just play hard, because he hadn’t been in the team for a while after missing the Six Nations. He did that and now, with Courtney unavailable, the opportunity for him to captain the side is there. He has taken it. But we haven’t had an elaborate conversation about it.”