Owen Farrell sets sights on 2027 World Cup
Owen Farrell has given his strongest indication yet that playing in the next Rugby World Cup is firmly in his sights.
He will be 36 at the time of the next tournament in Australia, but England’s changing of the guard ahead of the Six Nations Championship will not include the captain.
Several of Farrell’s long-standing England team-mates, including Courtney Lawes, Ben Youngs and Jonny May, have already called time on their international careers following Steve Borthwick’s side’s third-place finish in France.
Joe Marler, Dan Cole, Manu Tuilagi and Danny Care are also coming to the end of their Test careers.
Yet Farrell, who has 112 England caps, appears to be ready to lead his country into a new era, insisting that his passion for the game remains as strong as ever.
It is understood that Borthwick is keen for the 32-year-old to remain as his standard-bearer for the next four-year World Cup cycle – and replicate the leadership and game management influence that Johnny Sexton delivered for Ireland over the past four years.
Sexton was 38 when he retired following Ireland’s World Cup quarter-final exit in France, and it is an example not lost on Farrell.
“I want to play as long as I can, if I’m excited about what I am doing,” said Farrell, speaking at the season launch of the Investec Champions Cup at Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.
“I love what I do, I’m passionate about it and I don’t see that slowing down anytime soon.
“I’m unbelievably lucky to do something that I’m really passionate about and I want to play as long as I can if I’m still excited about what I am doing.
“The two go hand in hand because if you’re not excited then you won’t do what you want to do anyway, you won’t play for the teams that you want to play for and you won’t play to the standard that you want to.
“I wouldn’t sit down and set targets in that I have written this down, this down and this down, this is what I want to achieve, and this is what I am working for every day. But they are there in the background.
“The exciting bit is what’s in front of us. Where you can take what you’ve been doing and how to get the best out of yourself. Hopefully there’s loads more of that.”
Farrell, who made his international debut in 2012 and requires 16 more caps to overtake Ben Youngs as England most-capped men’s player of all time, says resetting his game and mental freshness following the return from the World Cup campaign has not been a problem.
“That’s gone on anyway and it’s not the case just because I’m over 30 now,” he added. “That’s been the case since I was 18 and before that when I was a kid. There’s always stuff that’s popping up and stuff to be better at, there’s always stuff that you’re trying to do more of or trying to fix up.
“I absolutely love what I do. You see the way some of the boys have come back from this international period and performed for their clubs. That’s because they’re enjoying being back at the clubs and the challenge that’s in front of them at the time.”
