Farrell deserves more credit from fans, says England coach
Fans should give England captain Owen Farrell more credit, according to the team’s attack coach Richard Wigglesworth.
Fly-half George Ford was dropped to make place for the captain ahead of Sunday’s 30-24 victory over Fiji at the Rugby World Cup to much fan criticism.
“We are lucky to have Owen. As ever, the tallest trees catch the most wind and he seems to catch a fair bit of it,” Wigglesworth said.
“He’s proven time and time and time again and I don’t understand why in England we feel the need to not celebrate that, not enjoy it, just because he’s not sat in front of social media or the media lapping all that up.
“He is incredibly serious abut his career, he is an incredibly proud Englishman. He affects any team he is in and he was brilliant for us – as we knew he would be.
“That was the maddening part of any noise. We knew what was coming from him.”
Whether Farrell keeps his spot at No10 with fellow fly-half Marcus Smith at full-back for this weekend’s semi-final clash against South Africa remains to be seen but England are now the only unbeaten side remaining in the tournament.
On South Africa, Wigglesworth added: “How special is it to be able to beat France, with the form they are in and in their own backyard? That was a special performance from an incredible team.
“We are probably talking about one of the best rugby teams to ever do it aren’t we? The strength of their game and how they play is well known, but in the last year or so you’ve seen a massive evolution in what they do.
“They’ve started adding things to their game with how they move the ball and how they exit, all different things so they’ve now got more variety.
“They’ve got multiple threats now and that’s probably why they are aiming to be one of the best ever.”