Analysis and Reaction: Owen Farrell stakes a claim for the starting No 10 jersey

Analysis and Reaction: Owen Farrell stakes a claim for the starting No 10 jersey

After two members of the Lions staff tested positive for Covid-19 hours before kick-off against the Sharks on Wednesday, Warren Gatland was forced into a host of late changes to his side as eight players from the squad were ruled out of the clash. 

One of those changes saw Owen Farrell take charge of the no.10 jersey, although the back of his jersey was in fact blank. Dan Biggar was set to take the reins as the main playmaker against the Sharks after Finn Russell started in the role against the Sigma Lions. 

In the opening tour game, Gatland wasted no time in throwing together pairings with Finn Russell at fly-half and Owen Farrell at centre. Ahead of that game, Gatland spoke of his options in the pivot role and his potential combinations saying: "It's pretty exciting to have a look at that back combination but we do want to look at Owen at No. 10 at some stage too."

 
The England captain did get the final 20 minutes of the 14-56 victory over the Sigma Lions at flyhalf but Wednesday's clash was the first time he got the starting role and he did not disappoint. 
 
 
Farrell turned in a commanding 52-minute performance that will certainly get Warren Gatland thinking about who should lead his backline in the test series. 
 
 
The England skipper had his admirers after his performance against the Sharks with British and Irish Lions legend Brian O'Driscoll tweeting: 'Reckon you have to have Owen Farrell in your Test team! Just a matter of where….'
 
 
 
O'Driscoll wasn't the only Irishman who was impressed by Farrell with Leinster and Ireland lock Devin Toner singing his praises when speaking to Off The Ball. 
 
 

Farrell caught the eye of the South African media too with Mark Keohane writing after the game that Farrell 'bossed the first 40 minutes at flyhalf against the Sharks.'

He further complimented the 29-year-old's performance saying 'He was superb and controlled the flow of the game.'


The praise was certainly deserved. He superbly set up the opening try for the Lions and Josh Adams' first of the game. 

His first involvement was finding touch about 9 meters out from the Sharks try line after the home side conceded an early penalty.

The forwards weren't able to get the maul rolling forward and after two crash balls, Farrell received the ball and looked to spread it wide. Sharks' winger Thaakir Abrahams shot up out of the line to try and intercept, Farrell spotted this and threw the dummy instead and was able to free his arms out of the tackle and offload neatly to Louis Rees-Zammit who did the same to put Josh Adams through.

 

Farrell had five involvements in the Lions' second try of the evening as Duhan van der Merwe was freed up on the outside to score. 

His first was a sharp pass out the back to Louis Rees-Zammit who stormed through a gap who fired out a pass to Duhan van der Merwe.

A phase later, he played Sam Simmonds on the crash ball before hitting a speeding Josh Adams who forced his way into the 22.

Price hit two sets of forwards from there before Farrell again made a good decision when Thaakir Abrahams shot out of the line to hit Sam Simmonds behind the gain line.

From here he spins into the tackle of James Venter, forcing Ruben van Heerden to commit to the tackle as well.

He then offloads off the ground to Price.

From there it was a simple short ball to Simmonds who threw the skip pass out to van der Merwe to dot down. 

That is two offloads in the opening 10 minutes, both of which leading to tries for the Lions. 

His next big play would come defensively as Werner Kok charged through the Lions defence on the blindside. Kok looked to link up with Libbok but the fullback spilt the ball forward with Farrell beating scrumhalf Jaden Hendrikse to the ball and passing from the ground to Josh Adams. From there the ball is shifted wide to the canon left boot of Elliot Daly to clear. 

Farrell's kicking game was also on point for the tourists. His first up and under, in the 17th minute, was weighted perfectly for Louis Rees-Zammit to make the bit on Manie Libbok. Unfortunately, Bundee Aki didn't relieve the pressure for the Sharks as he conceded a penalty at the breakdown. 

He kept the Sharks defence guessing as his next kick was a well-placed grubber that Rees-Zammit was just unable to control outside the 22 of the Sharks.

That should have served as a warning to the Sharks but one they did not adapt to as the absence of Werner Kok, who was yellow-carded, meant they did not cover the backfield well enough. Farrell spotted this and from the next possession, the Lions had, a scrum near halfway, the flyhalf punted a grubber through for Duhan van der Merwe, to score his second try. 

 


He would miss the conversion from the touchline but at this stage, the major damage had been done as the tourists lead 19-0. 

Defensively, he finished the game with 5 tackles made and two missed. However, both of his missed tackles took place in the Sharks 22 as the hosts scrambled under pressure.

The first after a kick from Farrell into the 22 and Thaakir Abrahams managed to escape the grasp of the England captain as he ran across field. The second was on flanker James Venter, who was wrapped up a meter later.

With Farrell running the show at flyhalf, the Lions were brutally effective as they took just about every opportunity that came their way while he orchestrated the attack superbly timing his passes to perfection.

Gatland will want to get Dan Biggar in the starting lineup at least one more time before the test series before making a call on his starting pivot but Farrell has certainly made a strong claim for the starting jumper. 

 JOHANNESBURG, SOUTH AFRICA - JULY 07: Marius Louw of the Sharks challenged by Owen Farrel of the British and Irish Lions during the Tour match between Cell C Sharks and British and Irish Lions at Emirates Airline Park on July 07, 2021 in Johannesburg, South Africa. (Photo by Sydney Seshibedi/Gallo Images/Getty Images)

 
 
 
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