Rugby World Cup: England v South Africa – Owen Farrell’s words primed to stir Red Rose into action

England captain Owen Farrell will deliver his final team talk on the eve of Saturday’s World Cup final against South Africa to a captivated audience encouraged to speak their minds.
FOLLOW MY LEADER: Owen Farrell addresses his players in training yesterday and will give a stirring speech on Friday night ahead of the World Cup final. Picture: Adam Davy/PA.FOLLOW MY LEADER: Owen Farrell addresses his players in training yesterday and will give a stirring speech on Friday night ahead of the World Cup final. Picture: Adam Davy/PA.
FOLLOW MY LEADER: Owen Farrell addresses his players in training yesterday and will give a stirring speech on Friday night ahead of the World Cup final. Picture: Adam Davy/PA.

Jamie George, Farrell’s Saracens and Lions team-mate, has set the scene for the last gathering to which coaches are excluded as Farrell addresses his squad before they do battle with the Springboks in Yokohama.

“I just can’t wait for Friday. That is Owen’s meeting. Friday night we have a meeting and we like to call it a captain meeting, a team meeting,” George said.

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“There are no coaches in the room. He just asks us how we are feeling and if anyone has anything to say.

BELIEF: England's Jamie George during the training session at Fuchu Asahi Football Park. Picture: Adam Davy/PABELIEF: England's Jamie George during the training session at Fuchu Asahi Football Park. Picture: Adam Davy/PA
BELIEF: England's Jamie George during the training session at Fuchu Asahi Football Park. Picture: Adam Davy/PA

“Often people will get something off their chest if they are thinking about the game and then he says his bit and without fail you could hear a pin drop.

“Everyone is hanging on every word he says. It is very inspirational without tearing the roof down because that is probably not what is needed.

“But he has a very good feel of what the team needs and what messages he needs to deliver.

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“It lasts however long it lasts. There have been short meetings, there have been meetings that have lasted half an hour.

England coach Eddie Jones, right, with captain Owen Farrell during Wednesday's training session at Fuchu Asahi Football Park. Picture: Adam Davy/PAEngland coach Eddie Jones, right, with captain Owen Farrell during Wednesday's training session at Fuchu Asahi Football Park. Picture: Adam Davy/PA
England coach Eddie Jones, right, with captain Owen Farrell during Wednesday's training session at Fuchu Asahi Football Park. Picture: Adam Davy/PA

“It varies pretty much on how much the other lads want to speak. Often they don’t. Mako Vunipola will say his piece, Maro Itoje often has a little bit, Courtney Lawes speaks a little bit.

“I think in Owen’s mind it’s quite nice to hear from people who haven’t been speaking, who haven’t got a huge leadership role in the team. He often draws on their feelings and experiences, and sees how they’re feeling.

“There’s always going to be an element of tactical talk, but I’d say it’s 90 per cent emotion.

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“But it’s not shouting and screaming – you are able to get your head down to sleep after it! He gets that balance quite nice and it sets the tone then for the build-up.

“The build-up starts from the minute you wake up on the Saturday – the image you give off to the people around you, even in the way you walk to breakfast.

“You are always constantly giving off a message to other people, about what your mindset is and how you are feeling.”

Farrell succeeded Dylan Hartley on a permanent basis before the 2018 summer tour to South Africa and has been at the helm ever since, adding leadership to his already considerable list of duties that include goal-kicking and playmaker.

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“Owen’s development has been brilliant. He has been a leader since I have known him at 14,” added George.

“Back then there was probably a lot more shouting because of frustration more than anything but now I think he has just developed a huge amount.

“As a leader I can’t speak highly enough of him. He is the sort of person you want to follow.

“He leads from the front but is also a person you can trust because you know first of all that he is probably the best at it in terms of his rugby ability but also the amount of tape that he watches.

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“You know for a fact that the messages he is giving you, he has been thinking over and over again. He is very good at delivering a theme and messages that build up nicely through the week.

“On the field he is still vocal. In the changing room, I don’t think he’s ever been shouty. He is very calm – he has got a lot calmer, I’d say.

“He talks a lot about being in control of your emotions. That is something he has learnt a lot through his younger years but he is calm, delivers messages.

“There are times when we haven’t been quite on it in the warm-up, but it’s never a shouty message.

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“You see it in his eyes, it’s a look – like, if he asks for more, we’re going to give him more, that’s the way that he is.”

Kyle Sinckler, meanwhile, will be ready to explode into Saturday’s final after learning how to adjust his psychological approach to big games.

Sinckler will continue at tighthead prop if he overcomes the calf problem sustained in the extraordinary 19-7 semi-final victory over New Zealand.

The 26-year-old, who was undergoing a fitness test in training on Wednesday, has been a force throughout Japan 2019 and will enter the Springboks showdown as one of Eddie Jones’s key personnel.

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“I give it everything when I’m on the field and lay it all on the line every time,” said Sinckler.

“Managing this comes from experience and the main thing for me is not to play Saturday’s game over a thousand times in my head during the week.

“I’ve learned to build myself towards the game, whereas when I was younger I’d be ready for the game on a Sunday night and I’d burn out because there was another week of preparation to go.

“Now I can control this side of my game much more.”

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