By the time Jonny Wilkinson played his final match in France, the entire crowd rose to its feet to sing God save the Queen in his honour.
A decade or so later, Owen Farrell is embarking on a similar journey of escapism that began with a show of begrudging respect.
The former England captain was seconds away from kicking Racing 92 to victory over Castres on his Top 14 debut, but there is a way to go before he replicates the golden touch of ‘Sir Jonny’.
One advantage Wilkinson had was his mastery of the French dictionary. He wooed the locals by adapting to their culture and Farrell faces the daunting challenge of replicating his fierce aura in a second language. Time will tell.
Castres is a sleepy town in the Pyrenees where most of the population live for the rugby club. The club have their own branch of Torcida ultras – more associated with football clubs across Europe – who drowned out their team’s arrival with flares and smoke bombs. It is the sort of place where they take the lid off coke bottles at the stadium bars to prevent them from being thrown onto the pitch as missiles.
Owen Farrell came incredibly close to leading Racing 92 to victory in his first game for the side
The 32-year-old moved to the French side after spending 14 years at English club Saracens
Farrell is one of several international stars who compete for Racing 92 in the Top 14
So Farrell’s warm reception came as a surprise. For all of Racing’s star players, their new English recruit was the one stopped for selfies as he arrived. ‘Owen… I’m a Sarrie!’ shouted one supporter, stopping the No10 in his tracks. A beaming grin followed but by the end of the day, after two costly missed penalties, it was more of a frown.
There was a sense of familiarity here, with English faces everywhere. Before the match, Farrell surveyed the pitch with Henry Arundell and Sam James, his fellow Englishmen in the backline. He has an English coach in Stuart Lancaster and they were reunited for the first time since the 2015 World Cup.
Now they are on a joint quest to replicate Wilkinson’s achievements on these shores, where the French adored his dedication to the craft. France is a volatile nation, often caught in political instability, and Wilkinson offered them an assured sense of predictability. His work-rate was unrivalled and Farrell offers similar levels of dogged commitment.
One of his first interventions was to chase back from one end of the pitch to the other to seal a ruck and prevent a turnover. Unglamorous, yes. Unappreciated, no.
It took 10 minutes to deliver the first try of Racing’s new era. In the past, Farrell has been lambasted for kicking the ball too often. Too boring. Too pragmatic. Even if he was often simply following orders of English coaches.
Farrell made four conversions from four attempts but Racing 92 were not able to secure a win
The England star did all he could to help get Racing over the line but fell short by three points
Here, when the ball squirted out the back of a defensive ruck, Farrell looked up and passed the ball wide. James ran the ball from his own 22, turning All Black centre Jack Goodhue inside out, and Arundell sprinted down the right wing to score. A try made in England.
It is commonplace for opposition goal-kickers to be heckled in France. They laugh off the English attitude towards ‘respecting the kicker’ so it was little surprise that they jeered Farrell’s missed kicks.
With Saracens and England, Farrell was rugby’s alpha spirit. Team-mates feared being on the end of his scowling looks and sharp tongue. The French do not conform to such hierarchies – especially from an Englishman – and that was telling by Farrell’s muted reaction to a miscommunication with Jordan Joseph in the backfield. It will take time before his team-mates afford him the same level of authority in his new colours.
‘I know Owen well so I think that’s helped him settle,’ said Lancaster. ‘It obviously helps that I speak English. As a 10, you have to learn all the calls in French. All the lineout calls and all the plays. Owen’s an experienced player but he knows the structure that I want to play and it’s just a matter of getting him up to speed with the calling system. It takes time.
Farrell will hope to leave a similar impression on French rugby as Jonny Wilkinson did at the Parisian club
‘I think he’s enjoying the new challenge. He played at Saracens for 14 years and he knew the club inside out. Now he’s having to learn a new club, a new competition, a new style and a new way of communicating. I think he’s enjoying it. I get no sense of any regret; I think he’s relishing the challenge.’
The challenge will not be easy. Racing have a history of investing heavily in star players yet they have not won a major trophy since Dan Carter guided them to the Top 14 in 2016.
Racing have a squad bursting with individual stars and Farrell’s goal is to forge them into a collective. They relied heavily on power and one-on-one collisions, with Josua Tuisova bouncing off tackles to set up Henry Chavancy’s late try.
At Saracens, Farrell knew exactly what to demand and expect. Claiming the final restart would have been a formality but Racing fumbled the kick-off and it cost them dearly. It allowed Christian Ambadiang to snatch victory with a spectacular solo try in the final play, ruining Farrell’s first day on the job.
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