Owen Farrell endured a frustrating Top 14 debut as Racing 92 were edged out 31-28 by Castres on Saturday.
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Eleven months after leading England to third place at the 2023 Rugby World Cup in Paris, the fly-half made his first league start for Racing, having signed a two-year deal following his departure from Saracens.
Vilified and jeered during the World Cup, Farrell stepped away from international rugby last autumn, joining the Parisians after their failed pursuit of Marcus Smith.
In their season opener, Racing—under the guidance of former England coach Stuart Lancaster—travelled to Castres and took a 14-13 lead at half-time, thanks to an early try from Henry Arundell. Despite a late try and conversion from Farrell giving Racing a 28-26 lead in the 78th minute, Castres snatched victory with a dramatic 80th-minute score from Christian Ambadiang.
Farrell, who contributed eight points from the tee, was warmly received by Castres supporters before the match, posing for selfies as he arrived—a stark contrast to his World Cup reception in France.
Owen Farrell hated England teammate, the pair never made up
England fly-half Owen Farrell is never afraid of sharing an opinion or two – especially when it’s about someone he doesn’t particularly like.
#1. Dave Attwood
The Bath lock won the last of his 24 caps for England back in 2016, which could have a lot to do with his relationship with the current England captain.
“He had a bit of a shout at me and went off to the toilet and I followed him.
“We all had a drink or two after the game but we didn’t need to get carried away with this. I was in the urinal behind the door and he was three or four down and as I got in his dad walked in as well, he was coaching at the time. He was, ‘I don’t want to fuckin’ hear it’ or something like that and as he walked out he went to open the door and slam it into the back of me. There was like a stop on the floor so it hit the stop and almost clocked him back…
“We never really addressed it after that. That was where it started and it was like a drunken little bit of argy that went too far. He is an incredibly competitive athlete and he is also very f**kin’ good, he has got high standards. He is a very competitive athlete and in order to be that good, you have to flirt on the wrong side of competitive.
“So whenever we play each other there is always some element in the game where one of us is running at the other one or we are trying to bang each other. There always seems to be an element of that to it. I am sure he is like, I don’t even know that Dave is playing.”