"England need a new captain" - Stuart Barnes' scathing rant on Owen Farrell

Writing in his column for The Times, Barnes claimed that the Premiership winner Smith is the "logical" choice: "Smith offers the 'other' option, the one Finn Russell brought to the third [Lions] Test.

"Smith is the English Russell. Like the Scot he is not a maverick. He’s an intelligent player with razor-sharp instincts. He has been trained to see things as they unravel in front of him. The antithesis of Farrell, who has appeared the ultimate game-plan player throughout the Jones years."

"To play anyone but Smith this autumn would be to strip bare any talk of 2023 planning as empty rhetoric. Two years out from the World Cup, there is plenty of time for Farrell to reignite his case, back in the improving Premiership.

"But Smith has less time to grow into a Test match 10. All the evidence indicates he has the skill, nerve, wit and kicking boots to pull England from the mess of their own making."

Barnes added that the captain decision would need to be addressed immediately: "Of course, there’s also the issue of a new captain. England need one.

"There is one in waiting and, after a summer break from the laptop, this is the first subject to be tackled."

In 2005, the 13-year-old Farrell had a trial at Old Trafford, and did enough to convince the club’s academy executives that the then goalkeeper deserved an extended spell with the club. Years later, they dressed him up as a goalkeeper on his stag fo.

He was not at first registered as a Farrell, but took mum Colleen’s family name of O’Loughlin. The couple married in 1995, changing Owen’s surname to Farrell the following year.

Farrell celebrates every point he scores by linking his index fingers together to make a ‘JJ’ sign, the Joining Jack salute, Joining Jack being a charity dedicated to the needs of sufferers of Duchenne muscular dystrophy. Farrell is also a patron for Duchenne muscular dystrophy charity Duchenne UK.

He married his longtime girlfriend Georgina “Georgie” Farrell (née Lyon) in July 2018. Their son, Tommy Farrell, was born in March 2019. They keep their life largely private.

It’s well known that Owen is the son of Ireland head coach Andy Farrell. However, it’s less commonly know that his uncle Sean O’Loughlin is also a rugby league legend, winning 34 caps for Great Britain between 1993 and 2009. He also has two younger sisters, Elleshia and Gracie and one younger brother, Gabriel.