As a professional rugby coach Andy Farrell has always been able to balance his line of work with the presence of his flesh and blood in the same arena yet events of the past week have clearly made that tightrope walk more precarious.
Yesterday the Ireland head coach climbed down from the balancing act and push his paternal instincts to the fore, not in defence of the incident that continues to keep son and England captain Owen Farrell in the dock but the for the “circus” of public opinion that has spewed forth on the subject since his red card against Wales last Saturday.
Farrell senior yesterday met the media conference with the intention of discussing his team selection for Ireland’s World Cup warm-up Test against England tomorrow but was drawn into the debate that has dominated rugby conversation on a daily basis since that red card.
England boss Steve Borthwick on Thursday opted to leave his skipper out of the Aviva Stadium clash following the outcry in the media that has hounded Farrell junior since his red card for a high hit on Welsh back row Taine Basham was downgraded to a yellow card by an independent Six Nations disciplinary hearing.
Farrell senior, who has so often deflected questi
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