Latest footage shows Farrell predicted England horror performance against Wales
Ask a group of England fans what they thought was the worst part of England’s performance against Wales at the Principality Stadium on Saturday and they will all come up with a variety of answers such was the shambolic nature of their display. But one that will feature a lot was their handling.
England posted a staggering 16 handling errors, which is almost unheard of in Test rugby, particularly in a game what was under a roof. But this display might not have come as a surprise to captain Owen Farrell.
The No10 sat out the match, with Marcus Smith starting and George Ford on the bench, and must have looked on in horror at some of the play. But recent footage shows his lack of faith he has in his team’s catching ability.
In the latest episode of O2 Inside Line | This Rose, Farrell was see putting up spiral bombs for his back three players to catch (or not catch) ahead of the Wales match. Henry Arundell put down one of these kicks, and while that was a pretty good indication of what was to come in Cardiff (even though he did not play), what happened after was even more telling. Farrell immediately shouted “Yeah! I knew it!” This will not fill his teammates with a lot of confidence, particularly as this was a player that made the World Cup squad. Goodness knows what his views were on the five players that started against Wales and failed to make Steve Borthwick’s squad.
This was a theme throughout the video, as Smith was filmed dropping a kick from Ford later in the video. After watching these videos, you can’t say England’s performance was not coming. Take a look:
England squad:
Forwards
Ollie Chessum (Leicester Tigers, 9 caps)
Dan Cole (Leicester Tigers, 100 caps)***
Tom Curry (Sale Sharks, 45 caps)*
Theo Dan (Saracens, 1 cap)
Ben Earl (Saracens, 15 caps)
Ellis Genge (Bristol Bears, 49 caps)*
Jamie George (Saracens, 77 caps)**
Maro Itoje (Saracens, 67 caps)*
Courtney Lawes (Northampton Saints, 97 caps)***
Lewis Ludlam (Northampton Saints, 20 caps)*
Joe Marler (Harlequins, 79 caps)**
George Martin (Leicester Tigers, 2 caps)
David Ribbans (Toulon, 6 caps)
Bevan Rodd (Sale Sharks, 3 caps)
Kyle Sinckler (Bristol Bears, 62 caps)*
Will Stuart (Bath Rugby, 26 caps)
Billy Vunipola (Saracens, 68 caps) **
Jack Walker (Harlequins, 3 caps)
Jack Willis (Toulouse, 10 caps)
Backs
Henry Arundell (Racing 92, 7 caps)
Danny Care (Harlequins, 88 caps)*
Elliot Daly (Saracens, 57 caps)*
Owen Farrell (Saracens, 106 caps)**
George Ford (Sale Sharks, 82 caps)**
Ollie Lawrence (Bath Rugby, 11 caps)
Max Malins (Bristol Bears, 19 caps)
Joe Marchant (Stade Francais, 16 caps)
Marcus Smith (Harlequins, 22 caps)
Freddie Steward (Leicester Tigers, 23 caps)
Manu Tuilagi (Sale Sharks, 51 caps)**
Jack van Poortvliet (Leicester Tigers, 13 caps)
Anthony Watson (unattached, 55 caps)**
Ben Youngs (Leicester Tigers, 122 caps)***
