In the opening shots of the video footage in Pretoria, Owen Farrell is seen with a beaming grin on his face and a ball in his hand. It is suspected that his club Saracens’ social media post on Tuesday with the message “settle now” was no coincidence. Earlier in the day, his club had also published a message containing a photo of its captain looking at the Saracens crest on his jersey.
The 32-year-old may have withdrawn from Test rugby last week to protect his and his family’s mental health, but predictions suggest his link with the club where he made his debut came just 11 days after his 17th birthday. To be as strong as ever.
A week-long trip to South Africa to prepare for Saturday’s Investec Champions Cup opener against the Bulls has provided the perfect escape from the glare of the spotlight since his bombshell announcement, but the word from camp is that he is just as good. he’s as desperate as ever to put on a big performance.
“He’s our captain, he’s our leader and he’s respected by everyone at the club. Having him on the pitch is obviously a huge benefit,” said Saracens director of rugby Mark McCall. “Not just having him on the pitch, but also in the team room, in the meetings. His contribution is huge and he’s here here.” It’s great to have him with us.”
McCall, who strongly defended his captain last week, described the criticism damaging Farrell’s career as “disgraceful”. McCall spoke almost like a father, pointing out that Farrell had spent almost half his life at the club.
This gave a glimpse into Saracens’ culture, where the player has always come first; This sentiment sometimes strayed too far when they were over the salary cap, leading to their relegation in 2020. However, the club still insisted on this for its success. This point was based on healthier values; a spirit and culture characterized, at the very least, by the willingness of international players to return to club activities when others are more uncertain.
The most recent example was footage of Jamie George and Theo Dan celebrating the club’s victory over Gloucester immediately after England’s victory in the bronze final at the World Cup in Paris; This was soon followed by Saracens’ English contingent returning en bloc to the Premiership. To secure a big victory against Leicester the following weekend.
Now Farrell, who could be seen smiling and signing autographs ahead of Saracens’ defeat to Northampton at the StoneX Stadium last Saturday, feels he can play for his club despite the off-field problems that forced him to leave. This statement from international rugby only serves to underline that sentiment. It’s behind the club.
“What I’ve always found at the club is that people come first,” McCall said. “This is much, much more important than performance, results or results.
“The most important thing is that people in the organization look out for each other, care about your teammates, care about the people you work with. And I think that has served us well over the years.
“It’s probably very easy to say that and very difficult to explain what it’s actually like, but I think when the big tests come and whether it’s on the pitch or some of the problems we’ve had off the pitch. I think you’ve seen the club become tighter and look out for each other. Some of them have been here for a very long time. I’m very privileged to be part of this group of people, some of whom are a little bit newer and are starting to get used to it.
Saracens chairman Neil Golding, who was appointed in the wake of the salary cap row, offers a relatively new perspective on the culture by admitting he was impressed by the bond within the team when he faced the ignominy of the club’s salary cap sanctions. including relegation.
“The general culture in Sarries is to really give people ‘s–‘. It’s hard to see what the secret sauce is, but it’s always there from the top to the bottom to be supportive,” Golding said.
“Owen is a well-known example of this; But if you work for an organization that is successful and treats you well, it’s almost like: ‘What’s not to enjoy about it?’ The likes of Owen and Jamie [George] and Maro [Itoje] They started the club as children and grew up together, moving up through the ranks and reaching the top of their game. “They are there with their spouses and they are treated appropriately.”
Golding recalls seeing concrete evidence of the tightness of that bond when Farrell and senior leaders held a meeting after it was confirmed the club would be relegated for salary cap breaches.
“The senior players, led by Owen, all got together and decided to do a season in the Championship. Some like Ben [Earl] and Maximum [Malins] They left on loan because of the career stage they were in, but senior leaders effectively said they would take one for the team and play in the Championship, come back and show everyone that the club wasn’t winning things. They were over the salary cap, but only because they were a tight group.
“You wonder if you can get the same reaction in a Premier League football team but these guys really wanted to prove people kind of wrong so they came back even stronger. Mark and Phil Morrow [Saracens’ general manager] We are the same. “There was definitely a sort of Dunkirk spirit in the club at that point.”
If winning the Premiership last season proved the point, it also provides the context for why Farrell is happy to be back playing for his club at a time in his career when the stress of international rugby has taken its toll.
“Jamie George, Owen and Jackson Wray were young players when this project started in 2009-10 and they benefited from the wisdom of some of the senior players who were around at the time and were allowed to grow and develop at their own pace.
“There were a lot of people in the senior group of players looking out for them and it’s the same thing now. We’ve got a group of 18, 19 and 20-year-old lads coming to the club and now we’ve got senior players who have a sense of duty to do the same and help and support people in the same way they support people .”