{"id":296947,"date":"2023-12-03T08:26:06","date_gmt":"2023-12-03T08:26:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportstoft.com\/?p=296947"},"modified":"2023-12-03T08:26:06","modified_gmt":"2023-12-03T08:26:06","slug":"farrell-cannot-return-as-england-captain-after-mental-health-absence-call","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportstoft.com\/rugby-league\/farrell-cannot-return-as-england-captain-after-mental-health-absence-call\/","title":{"rendered":"Farrell cannot return as England captain after mental health absence call"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n

If Owen Farrell does choose to play for England again when he returns from his mental health exile, it should not be as captain.<\/p>\n

He may not like the idea of that – he is a natural leader to his bootlaces – but his self-imposed absence for the Six Nations shows that after all he has given to England it is time to put himself first.<\/p>\n

He needs to take care of himself and it is clear now with Farrell that captaining England\u2019s rugby team is incompatible with that.<\/p>\n

Being the figurehead, with all the attention which comes with it – which in his case is usually negative – has taken an unhealthy toll.<\/p>\n

The indomitable warrior has hit a wall even he cannot smash through.<\/p>\n

The time away from England will hopefully restore him. At 32, he still has more top-level rugby in him.<\/p>\n

But if and when he does return, England\u2019s record points scorer has earned the right to enjoy what remains of his international career. And that should be as a foot soldier.<\/p>\n

If he does not want to make that call then Steve Borthwick should do it for him.<\/p>\n

Talk to Farrell\u2019s former teammate Chris Robshaw and he speaks openly about the weight which lifted when Eddie Jones told him Dylan Hartley would be taking over from him as England captain.<\/p>\n

Robshaw had been hammered in the wake of England\u2019s 2015 World Cup flop in the mainstream media and abused cruelly on social media.<\/p>\n