Owen Farrell has not ruled out a possible return for England, despite admitting the cheering from supporters at last year’s World Cup in France was sometimes difficult to bear.
The 32-year-old decided to step down from the international stage in November to “put his and his family’s mental wellbeing first” and his move to Top 14 side Racing 92 next season will see him unavailable for the coming seasons will be for Steve Borthwick’s team. two seasons.
However, the former England captain, refreshed after a two-month break, insists he still wants to achieve a lot as a player. He cut an optimistic figure at Saracens’ training base near St Albans on Wednesday for his first press conference since the World Cup last October.
And when asked about the possibility of a Test return – including representing the British and Irish Lions in Australia next year – he said it would depend on how he felt afterwards.
“I’ve taken a step back and there’s obviously going to be a change next year,” said Farrell, who has won 112 caps for England. ‘Then we’ll see. There’s no point in saying anything now because I don’t know how I’ll feel later. We will see.
“Everyone has really supported us. Everyone has shown understanding. All they have done is offer support. When I sat down and talked to people here [Saracens] and spoke to Steve and explained my reasons for making the decision, they were really supportive.
A return to England could see Farrell available again in time for the 2027 World Cup in Australia, and Mark McCall, Saracen’s director of rugby, claimed the former captain had the drive to extend his international career if he chose to do so.
“There are very few players who can do that, and I think he’s one of them,” McCall said. “But you have to have the drive to do that, you have to have the competitive spirit to do that. I think he has. He can continue as long as that drive is there, and the competitive spirit is there.”
What is clear is that the break has clearly done him good. Farrell will make his 250th appearance for Saracens in the Premiership match against Harlequins at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium on Saturday.
He spent time in Ireland during his break, watching his 12-year-old brother Gabriel play a club match for Old Belvedere, and also watched England from the stands at Twickenham as the Borthwick side defeated an Irish team coached by Farrells father Andy, in the Six Nations.
Asked if the experience made him want to be involved again, he added: “You sit there and watch a big game like that and wish you wanted to be involved, but I’m happy at the moment with the decision.
“I don’t want to say that it won’t have its ups and downs, and that it won’t change at any point, but you try to do it for the right reasons. I think I did that. But when there’s a big game going on – you’re watching New Zealand versus South Africa, you want to be involved – I’ve been sitting there scratching my head a bit, as I have done at home. But I’m quite satisfied.”
‘The World Cup was difficult at times’
Having time to watch his younger brother play and absorb Ireland’s victory over Italy in Dublin in February gave him time to reflect on his decision to step back from the floodlights of the Test arena.
“You go through a range of emotions at that moment,” he added. “Overall I felt good. I’ve been trying to do things I wanted for a long time, but I never got the chance. That would be one of them.”
The break also allowed Farrell to refocus on why he loves the game. He admitted that the booing during the World Cup sometimes made him wonder why, because he had done right by his team and country.
“Sometimes yes, I think so, but it just comes back to what I’ve been trying to do all along, which is to do my best, to do my best for the people around me and for myself,” he said. . “So that’s the constant that remains.
“Of course the World Cup was difficult at times, but again I really enjoyed the playing side of it and the involvement. I just tried to enjoy myself again, enjoy my rugby again, enjoy what I do again. I’m working on doing that.
Addressing his decision to withdraw from England, Farrell added: “I was just trying to make sure I did the right thing, for us as a family, on my own. Everything else that was going on, I had no control over. That’s not up to me.
“I’m not the most outgoing on social media, I’m not the most outspoken in general unless it’s normally about rugby. So I guess I’ve never been one to give too much of myself, and I don’t expect people to know what I’m like, I guess, what I’m like as a person.
“So if it gets personal, it would be stupid to listen to it. I was just trying to do the right thing for us and me.
‘No decisions about Lions’
His move to France would not rule him out of selection for the Lions next year but it is not a topic he has yet raised with his father Andy, who will be the head coach for the tour of Australia.
“Have I talked to my father about it?” he added. “I told him, ‘well done’, if that counts [referring to Ireland’s Six Nations title win].
“There’s nothing to talk about – whatever happens, happens. No decisions can be made about this. When it gets closer to the time, I think things will either become clear or they won’t. You see what people are like at that moment. There is nothing to talk about right now.”
His immediate focus is on Saracens and the club’s bid to revive their Premiership title and make a deep run into the Champions Cup. Working under former England head coach Stuart Lancaster at Racing could lead to greater success and perhaps inspire an international return.
“Do you think I’m tapering?” he added with a smile. “I want to play as long as possible, as long as I enjoy it. I like to play. That has always been the case, even during the more difficult moments I have talked about. I loved the game, and I loved rugby.
“I want to enjoy everything a little more. I’ve started doing it again here at the club, I’ve done that recently during the Six Nations, and I really want to do that by the end of the year. And then I want to get better at it next year too. This way I think I will get the best out of myself and play at my best. We’ll see what happens.”