Inflexible eligibility rules for England need to be relaxed with more empathy shown towards best players and loyal servants
New year, new start. Or, in the case of Owen Farrell and English rugby, the most extreme of potential makeovers. If the erstwhile England captain links up with Racing 92 in Paris, as seems increasingly on the cards, it will be the most hotly debated Anglo-French marriage since Henry XIII’s 18-year-old sister, Mary, married Louis XII, the 52-year-old King of France, in 1514.
This latter liaison, as it happens, lasted only three months before Louis died as a consequence of either gout or (allegedly) his exertions in the bedchamber. And they say modern rugby is bad for you. Here’s hoping the 32-year-old Farrell, should he relocate across the Channel, is able to enjoy a less fraught experience and rediscovers the missing joie de vivre that has already led him to step aside from the national squad.