Owen Farrell in dock after saluting crowd in overly aggressively manner
England ace Owen Farrell may be under scrutiny against after saluting the Harlequins crowd in an overly aggressive manner after Sarries’ brave win over arch-rivals Harlequins.
Saracens love smashing Harlequins and asserting themselves as the numero uno team in Londinium, but many now believe that Farrell has gone too far with his latest histrionics – especially given it’s the Queen Funeral on Monday and the nation is in mourning.
Watch the vision and see what you think of Farrell’s alpha fist-pump into the crowd.
https://twitter.com/btsportrugby/status/1571166645850193921
We personally don’t see what the fuss is about.
Saracens finished last season with the tightest defence in the league: they not only made the most tackles (205), but also registered the highest rate of tackle completion (88.5%).
The North-London side benefitted from being the most accurate goal-kickers in the 2021/22 Premiership, finishing with a 79.3% success rate off the tee. This accuracy helped Saracens score the most points of any team in the league last season (815).
Saracens’ back-rowers Billy Vunipola and Ben Earl were monumental for their side last season, topping the charts for carries (299) and tackles (358) respectively. Vunipola also threw the second-most offloads in the 2021/22 Premiership (35).
Last season, Saracens made 92.6 tackles per match with “high” contact (above the waist), the most of any side in the Premiership. As a result, they only allowed 8.3 offloads out of the tackle per 80 minutes – less than any side other than London Irish.
Saracens defeated Harlequins on all three occasions that they met in the 2021/22 Premiership season, including their 34-17 semi-final victory.
There have been nine of these London derbies in the last five seasons. Saracens have won seven of these contests.
Harlequins last defended the Stoop from Saracens in January 2020, when they won 41-14.
Tags: Owen Farrell, Owen Farrell
