Lions star defends Owen Farrell's call-up to Australia tour
Farrell is set to land in Sydney on Friday, having been called up by the Lions to fill in for Elliot Daly, who's had to head back home due to a fractured forearm just as he was hitting form for the Test team.
The choice of Andy Farrell to bring in his 33 year old son has sparked debate, especially since Farrell's last game for England was nearly two years ago and he only played 17 matches for Racing 92 last season, hindered by groin surgery and concussion issues.
However, England's record points scorer and captain from 2018 to 2023 brings with him vast experience, including from three previous Lions tours, and he is the only player in the squad who was involved in the triumphant tour to Australia in 2013.
Cowan-Dickie believes his CV makes him a valuable addition as the Lions continue their build-up to the first Test against the Wallabies on July 19.
'You don't lose class. Faz is a class player, so I'm well happy,' said Cowan-Dickie, who starts Saturday's match against the New South Wales Waratahs in Sydney.
'When it was announced internally, the reaction was good. Faz is a well-known player. He's played quality rugby over many years.
'One thing about Faz is the standards he sets on the training field. He's got bit of an aura about him on training fields, which makes you want to try and train to perfection.
'I know it's quite hard to perfect training every single day, but he definitely makes standards higher.
'He's a good team man. Even though he might not be involved one week he stays the same in training and the standards he wants to set.'
Farrell has not played since he was concussed against Lyon on May 4 and he must get up to speed as quickly as possible if he is to make an impact on the playing field Down Under.
Tadhg Beirne, who has been named captain against the Waratahs at Allianz Stadium, played with Farrell during the 2021 Lions tour to South Africa.
'Owen bring some serious quality. We're looking forward to him coming into the squad and getting to hang out with him,' Beirne said.
'Any type of leadership is only going to enhance the squad. Playing with him four years ago, I've seen all those leadership qualities that he brings.
'There's the quality of his talent as well, which will do nothing but boost the squad.'
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
RTÉ News
an hour ago
- RTÉ News
Ireland fall to Italian defeat at U-20s World Championships
Italy U-20s 18-16 Ireland U-20s Ireland fell to a narrow defeat to hosts Italy at the World Rugby U-20 Championships in Viadana today. In stifling conditions, Ireland nearly came away with a draw when replacement flanker Oisín Minogue crossed the tryline in the 82nd minute, but out-half Sam Wisniewski was unable to land his conversion from the right with the final act of an ill-disciplined game. The defeat, following the 35-28 opening-round victory over Georgia, means Ireland must beat New Zealand in their third and final game of Pool C next Wednesday and hope other results go their way to be in with a chance of a semi-final. Italy, who also got the better of Ireland in this year's U20 Six Nations campaign, took the lead in the 12th minute through Italian No 8 Nelson Casartelli. Temperatures reached 33 degrees at Stadio Luigi Zaffanella where Ireland out-half Tom Wood and Italian full-back Edoardo Todaro traded penalties to ensure Italy led 8-3 at the break. Piero Gritti's try just short of the hour mark appeared to send the hosts well on their way, but the visitors responded four minutes later when replacement hooker Mikey Yarr touched down in the corner with the Italians temporarily down to 14 after the sin-binning of Casartelli for a high tackle on full-back Charlie Molony. Irish lock Billy Corrigan soon followed to the sin-bin with Italy adding another penalty to make it 18-11 with nine minutes remaining. Ireland fought to the end and got over with the clock in the red, but Minogue's miss ensured a home win. Italy: E Todaro; A Drago (R Ioannucci 62), F Zanandea, R Casarin, J Ducros (G Pietramala 68); R Fasti, N Beni (M Bellotto 74); S Pelliccioli (S Mistrulli 54), N Corvasce (A Caiolo-Serra 54), N Bolognini (L Trevisan 53); M Midena (E Opoku Gyamfi 53), P Gritti; G Milano, C Bianchi (A Miranda 57), N Casartelli. Ireland: C Molony; P Farrell, C Mangan, E Smyth, D Moloney; T Wood (S Wisniewski 60), W Wootton (C Logan 64); A Usanov (B Bohan 53), H Walker (M Yarr 53-78), A Mullan (T McAllister 53) M Ronan (C Kennelly 48), B Corrigan; E McCarthy, B Power (O Minogue 62), L Murphy.
The 42
2 hours ago
- The 42
Waratahs huge underdogs as Farrell asks for more Lions progress
ENGLISHMAN JAMIE ADAMSON will play for the Waratahs against the Lions in tomorrow's match in Sydney and then head off to Canberra to wear a Lions jersey for the tourists' clash with the Brumbies on Wednesday. Adamson will be in the stands with his family supporting the Lions next week. The 25-year-old, who is on the bench for the Waratahs tomorrow [KO 11am Irish time, Sky Sports], was released by the Great Britain 7s back in 2023 and decided to go on an adventure to Australia to play club rugby. Adamson won the Shute Shield with Sydney's Easts but then moved back home to England in the hope of returning to the 7s fold. Just a couple of weeks later, Waratahs boss Dan McKellar asked him to join the Sydney franchise on a trial basis. It went well. Adamson has racked up 11 appearances in Super Rugby this year and now he gets a chance to take on the Lions, a team he has supported all his life and probably once hoped to play for. Many others in the Waratahs' matchday 23 have intriguing stories of their own, even the famous players. 29-year-old Taniela Tupou was seen as one of the best tightheads in rugby only a few years ago but his form fell away drastically. In May, he told the Sydney Morning Herald about the mental struggles he's been dealing with. Tupou is still in the Wallabies set-up, but he has been released to the Waratahs for tomorrow's game in a bid to show that he has what it takes to face the Lions in a couple of weeks. Waratahs flanker Charlie Gamble. Alamy Stock Photo Alamy Stock Photo At the other end of the scale in terms of experience, 21-year-old Waratahs loosehead prop Jack Barrett should get the chance to scrummage against Tadhg Furlong at Allianz Stadium tomorrow. Openside flanker Charlie Gamble is a New Zealand native who moved to Sydney in 2018. Initially, he was playing so-called 'Subbies' amateur rugby and working as a delivery driver for an alcohol supplier. Advertisement He swiftly rose through the grades in Sydney rugby to secure a contract with the Waratahs in 2020 and five years later, he gets the opportunity to plays against the Lions. 21-year-old out-half Jack Bowen has only started two games in Super Rugby and he's preferred to Wallabies-capped Tane Edmed as the number 10 for tomorrow's game. Every single one of these Waratahs will be proud and pumped up to play against the Lions but with seven of their key players remaining in Wallabies camp, there are fears that they will struggle to compete, especially if Andy Farrell's side can deliver something closer to an 80-minute performance. There are some good pros in the Waratahs 23. Lock Fergus Lee-Warner spent time in the Premiership, skipper Hugh Sinclair has a hard edge, blindside Rob Leota has 21 Wallabies caps, wing Andrew Kellaway has been released by Joe Schmidt along with Tupou, and clever centre Lalakai Foketi has reportedly signed for the Chiefs in New Zealand. It should help that Mike Catt is the Waratahs' attack coach and will have helped to prepare them well for facing an Andy Farrell team. But the reality is that there is a major gulf in quality between the two teamsheets for tomorrow. The Tahs are massive underdogs for this one. Lions head coach Farrell has rung the changes again after Wednesday's win over the Reds, but he saw more to like in that performance in Brisbane. Now he wants things to go up another level against the Waratahs. Mack Hansen at the Lions' captain's run in Sydney. Billy Stickland / INPHO Billy Stickland / INPHO / INPHO 'A bit more continuity, a bit more putting things together,' is what he hopes to see in Sydney. 'There's a bit of a stop-start nature with our outcomes… just lacking a bit of staying in the moment as much as we possibly can. 'But having said that, I think it's getting better. There's always things to fix in every single game but we've been pleased with some of our progression. 'Our breakdown work was great the other night, our transition work – whether it be defence to attack, attack to defence – was pretty good as well. 'So, yeah, we want to keep improving our defence because that's the main thing you'd want to stand for. I know defence has been pretty good, but there's still room for improvement.' The Brumbies game in Canberra was always going to be the Lions' toughest challenge against the Aussie Super Rugby sides because they've been consistently the best for years now. The hope is that the Waratahs' obvious emotion and delight at getting a shot at the Lions helps them to deliver a credible, competitive performance tomorrow. If not, we could be in for a rout that does nobody any good. WARATAHS: Lawson Creighton; Andrew Kellaway, Lalakai Foketi, Joey Walton, Darby Lancaster; Jack Bowen, Teddy Wilson; Tom Lambert, Ethan Dobbins, Taniela Tupou; Fergus Lee-Warner, Miles Amatosero; Rob Leota, Charlie Gamble, Hugh Sinclair (captain). Replacements: Mahe Vailanu, Jack Barrett, Daniel Botha, Matt Philip, Jamie Adamson, Jack Grant, Tane Edmed, Henry O'Donnell. LIONS: Hugo Keenan; Mack Hansen, Huw Jones, Sione Tuipulotu, Blair Kinghorn; Fin Smith, Alex Mitchell; Pierre Schoeman, Luke Cowan-Dickie, Finlay Bealham; Tadhg Beirne (captain), James Ryan; Henry Pollock, Josh van der Flier, Ben Earl. Replacements: Dan Sheehan, Ellis Genge, Tadhg Furlong, Joe McCarthy, Scott Cummings, Jac Morgan, Ben White, Marcus Smith. Referee: Paul Williams [New Zealand].
Irish Independent
2 hours ago
- Irish Independent
‘She played such incredible tennis and she pushed me really hard' – Aryna Sabalenka praise for beaten Emma Raducanu
The 22-year-old played some electrifying tennis under the roof on Centre Court but was unable to apply the finishing touches, eventually going down 7-6 (6) 6-4 after exactly two hours. The first set alone took 74 minutes, with Raducanu saving seven set points and creating one of her own, while she led 4-1 in the second before Sabalenka recovered to set up a fourth-round clash with Elise Mertens. Raducanu will now drop to British number three behind Katie Boulter and Sonay Kartal, who is the last home woman left in singles, but that will not be the case for long if she can maintain this level. The former US Open champion has made it her goal to close the gap to the world's best and, having lost twice heavily to Iga Swiatek in the other two grand slams this year, she can feel very differently after her performance here. 'She played such incredible tennis and she pushed me really hard to get this win,' said Sabalenka. 'I fight for every point like crazy. 'I'm super happy to see her healthy and back on track. I'm pretty sure that she will be back in the top 10 soon. 'What an atmosphere, my ears are still hurting. I was telling myself, just pretend they're cheering for you, and I was having goosebumps.' Unlike Jack Draper, Raducanu is naturally at home on grass, with her exceptional ability to take the ball early, particularly on return, mitigating her lack of pure power. She gave Sabalenka a decent run for her money in their only previous meeting, in Indian Wells last spring, and a clean return winner off a second serve in the opening game showed the Belarusian that she very much meant business. Raducanu played an almost flawless match to beat former champion Marketa Vondrousova in the second round and, although this was a very different prospect, the 22-year-old once more appeared calm and clear-minded. She had the top seed under pressure again in the fifth game, bringing up three more break points and taking the third when Sabalenka netted a backhand. That was greeted by a huge roar from the packed stands, but Raducanu then made her first missteps serving at 4-3 to hand the advantage back amid a run of eight points in a row for Sabalenka. A forehand winner played from virtually sitting down by Raducanu earned a clap from Sabalenka but too many errors had crept into the home favourite's game and a netted forehand gave her opponent a first set point. She saved that with an ace, and Sabalenka remarkably missed backhands on every one of six more opportunities before Raducanu finally held in one of Centre Court's more memorable games. It seemed impossible for it not to be a key moment, and Sabalenka had a face of thunder after watching two Raducanu passing shots fly beyond her reach. Concern replaced cheers when Raducanu suffered a nasty slip in retrieving a short ball, briefly staying down clutching her left hip before gingerly getting to her feet. It did not stop her creating two break points, though, and Sabalenka overhit a backhand to leave her opponent serving for the set. This time Sabalenka did not let Raducanu off the hook, forcing a tie-break, where a drive volley hooked wide of an open court at 5-4 looked like it might have cost the world number one when she then netted a return to give Raducanu a first set point. But Sabalenka saved it in style with a drop shot before finally taking her eighth opportunity, this time making no mistake at the net. It was important for Raducanu to recover from the disappointment quickly, and she did, producing two strong holds of serve and taking advantage of a dip from Sabalenka to move 4-1 ahead in the second set. Sabalenka has been far and away the best player in the world over the last year but suddenly she was struggling to live with Raducanu, who played a series of sublime points to create a chance to win a fourth game in a row only to just miss with a forehand. Had she taken it, a deciding set was most certainly on the cards, but Sabalenka, who is the only top-six seed left in the tournament, barged the door wide open and charged through it, reeling off five games in a row.
