David Campese labels Owen Farrell's Lions call-up ‘a weak pick by daddy'
Less than 24 hours after head coach Andy Farrell urged supporters to cut out the 'nonsense' negativity around his son's call-up, Campese claimed that Owen Farrell's selection is 'weak', that it could disrupt the Lions camp, and that the 'ageing' fly-half 'left Paris with his tail between his legs'.
'For the life of me, I cannot fathom why Andy Farrell would call up an ageing fly-half-cum-centre to replace a classy back-three player,' Campese wrote in a column for Planet Rugby.
'Yes, Owen Farrell has been a world-class 10 in his time. Yes, he's been an outstanding British and Irish Lion. Yes, he's been a champion of Europe, a World Cup finalist and a Premiership legend. But the ever-present word there is 'has'.
'Owen's form since quitting England and Saracens for Racing 92 has been – well, I'm not sure there's been any form whatsoever. He's struggled with the pace of French rugby and the standard of the Top 14, he's not been able to get any sort of purchase into a style of game that's run by a production line of world-class nines and he's left Paris with his tail between his legs and a reputation that's suffered as a result.
'I also have to question judgment here. I have always been respectful of the Farrell name. This is a weak pick by daddy – and weak isn't what I'd expect from them.
'It also puts huge pressure on Owen, who can't have a bagful of confidence after the Racing 92 experience, and that sort of thing can also disrupt camp... what message is this sending out to the likes of Marcus and Fin Smith?'
Campese added in his Planet Rugby column: "You may as well have used the same wild card principle to pull Jack Willis into the side – at least he's a world class player playing at the apex of his abilities and could really offer value by adding a 6'3' option at six, something the Lions are really short of given that there's only Jack Conan in their primary back-rowers that's a proper lineout option - something Jack's been improving greatly at doing at Toulouse.
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