England’s Willi Heinz, Owen Farrell and Sam Underhill face the New Zealand haka before the 2019 Rugby World Cup semi-final. Photograph: James Crombie/InphoOwen Farrell will become the third England men’s player to win 100 caps when he plays against New Zealand, but he has given the honour scant attention in the build-up, and it will be the last thing on his mind on Saturday.
“If we don’t have Owen then we lose a huge percentage of our fight. He’s the most energetic and one of the most committed rugby players I’ve ever seen,” Jones said at the start of the November campaign.Farrell’s nerveless goal-kicking has helped him amass 1,148 international points, behind only Jonny Wilkinson and Dan Carter, and, at the age of 31, he has plenty more to come.
“I think he will probably go down as one of the best players to ever play for England,” Care said. “I don’t think he’s appreciated like he should be. I don’t think you realise how good he is until you have been in a dressing room or on a pitch with him. It will only be when he stops playing that he gets the respect he really, truly deserves.”
“He was entirely different to anything I’ve ever seen before in terms of his skill level, desire and the way that he approached the game,” George said this week of his early encounter with a teenaged Farrell. One of the most iconic images of Farrell was his “smirk” as England faced down the New Zealand haka before the 2019 World Cup semi-final. Some felt it was disrespectful but most England fans appreciated it as a signal that he was unimpressed by the dance, or the “aura” that supposedly came with it.
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