Owen Farrell has decided to withdraw from England duties due to mental health reasons. Photo: Getty Images/David Rogers
Owen Farrell could miss up to a year in England after he decided to withdraw from the Six Nations to prioritize the mental well-being of himself and his family, Telegraph Sport understands.
< England are scheduled to play Japan and two Tests against New Zealand in July and it is understood the 32-year-old will almost certainly not feature. There are also serious doubts about the likelihood of a return for next year's autumn series, which includes Tests against New Zealand, Australia and South Africa.
Farrell is believed to have reassured friends that he was fundamentally fine, but decided to make family a priority in the next stage of his career.
Accepting what Mark McCall, his director of rugby at Saracens, Called a “brave and courageous decision to come out”, the former England captain is believed to feel something needs to be done to prevent others from repeating what he did. survived.
“His happiness and well-being are of utmost importance,” McCall said. “If over time this requires a return to the international structure, then so be it. He has nothing to prove. For some people, all those caps as captain weren't enough.
Saracens director of rugby Mark McCall (left) described Farrell's decision as “wake-up call for rugby”; Photo: David Rogers/Getty Images
“If he wants to come back after the break and that's what he likes and enjoys, then good for him. If he doesn't want to in six to eight months, we'll support that too.
“Of course, I didn't try to persuade him to change his mind – and I'm pretty sure Steve Borthwick didn't either.
p>“I can't tell you why he feels the way he feels. His happiness – and the happiness of his family – is the most important thing in the future. And, as always, he will have the full support of the club.
“We need to make sure we check it all the time. As Steve [Bortwick] said yesterday, it was courageous and brave of him to open up. In any case, I admire Owen for many reasons, but even more for the fact that he does this.
“The man who is and has been portrayed from time to time in the media over the years is not the person I recognize. A narrative was created and started, and it has been around for quite some time. A person can endure a lot.
“It’s remarkable that he played the way he did at the World Cup, considering how he was feeling. A man who is currently at the top of his career, but he and his family were made to feel the same way they did. It's disgraceful.”
McColl said he was angry at the way his captain, who won 112 England caps, led his country to the last two World Cups and won four Test caps for Great Britain and Ireland. Lions – cured.
'Rugby needs to do something'
Just a week after referee Wayne Barnes revealed he received death threats during the World Cup in France and that his family were also targeted, McCall said it should serve as a wake-up call for rugby.
“Rugby probably needs to do something,” he added. “This is a wake-up call for everyone concerned because under no circumstances should a referee have to face what Wayne faced and under no circumstances should a player – a man – like Owen have to face what he encountered, over a longer period of time. .
“This was not caused by the emotional losses from frequent gaming, but by something completely different.”
“We cannot control social networks. For me, it started in the mainstream media (not all of them) and the narrative created around Owen. And then a scandal broke out on social networks. There are people in the media industry who need to take a look at themselves.
“Over the years, he has been led to believe that he did something much worse than he did. All that has been observed and scrutinized – that doesn't happen to other players.
You can say, “He's the England captain”, but I'm not sure England captains have faced the level of scrutiny that he It has. Very rarely is it positive, and we are talking about a person who is an exemplary professional, who cares deeply about what he does and who he does it with.
“He is portrayed in a way that is not inappropriate for the person , whom people close to him know. We ended up where we ended up.”
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