PARIS, France — A day after Owen Farrell’s match-winning performance for England against Fiji, attack coach Richard Wigglesworth believes their captain deserves far more recognition for his career to date.
Farrell contributed a 20-point haul to England’s 30-24 World Cup quarterfinal win over Fiji on Sunday in Marseille. He started at fly-half in place of George Ford, but his name was greeted with boos from some corners of the stadium when it was read out pre-match.
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It’s a reception which bemused the England team. Farrell, 32, is England’s record points-scorer, having overtaken Jonny Wilkinson’s previous benchmark in their win over Samoa in Lille Oct. 7. For Wigglesworth, who retired from the sport in December 2022 and is now part of the England backroom team, he feels his former Saracens and England teammate deserves far more respect.
“We are lucky to have him,” Wigglesworth said. “As ever, the tallest trees catch the most wind, and he seems to catch a fair bit of it. [He’s] proven [himself] 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 is not sat in front of social media or media lapping all that up.
“He is incredibly serious about 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.”
England will face the Springboks in the World Cup semifinal on Saturday in Paris, and remain the only unbeaten team in the competition. England’s backroom staff started analysing both France and South Africa last week, preparing for a potential semifinal, and following the Boks’ 29-28 win on Sunday, they’re already well on the way to finalising a plan for the reigning champions.
“We will put a bit more meat on the bones of that this morning, we have already met and we will be meeting again and sent away with a list of stuff to look at and get right so we can give the players as much clarity we can on areas that we want to go after,” Wigglesworth said. “It’s about simplifying as much as we can so they can put their game out on the field.
“We are talking about one of the best rugby teams ever, aiming to go back-to-back, who have evolved, and have had a solid coaching team for six years. They have a core group of players and they have added quality to it. They are an impressive outfit.”