Saracens star Alex Goode had just completed a round of golf with Owen Farrell when his partner disappeared to take a phone call that has divided rugby fans and triggered claims of nepotism.
The call was from Owen’s Dad Andy, the Lions head coach, who is under pressure after opting to choose his son to replace the injured Elliot Daly on the Lions tour rather than other candidates including in-form Scotland utility back, Tom Jordan.
Former England full-back Goode exclusively revealed to talkSPORT.com how Farrell found out he was going on a fourth Lions tour.
He said: “It was quite funny, I was playing with him out on the golf course and we come in for lunch and he runs off for a call. And the girl sitting next to him saw him and she said, ‘oh I thought his dad was just catching up with him after the [Queensland] Reds game’ because it had just finished an hour earlier.
“And then obviously we put two and two together and we were like ‘oh right he’s been called up and he’s off on a flight’. Yeah he didn’t give anything away to us but I’m happy for him, he’ll be great out there.
“He didn’t tell us, he had his lunch and left. It’s quite funny that I just spent five hours with him on a golf course, neither of us had played that well so we were getting a bit frustrated with the golf. Sat at lunch, he seemed preoccupied.
“I then woke up the next morning to the news and I was like oh that’s why he was popping back and forth for a phone conversation looking stressed, claiming it was about his car but he was probably trying to tell his wife that he was off to Australia for a few weeks.”
Farrell, who has 112 caps for England, quit international rugby after the 2023 Rugby World Cup where he was booed by his own fans and headed to France to play for Racing 92.
However, injury ruined that move and he has returned to Saracens where he previously helped the club become champions of England and Europe.
Goode recalls being frustrated by a section of the England fans who took Farrell, England’s top points scorer of all time, for granted. He explained: “I think that was quite an English thing that happened (at the World Cup). It was incredibly naive and stupid of the England fans [who booed Owen].
“He’s an all-time great for England and he was the captain, and someone who in that semi-final against South Africa was one of the best three players on the field – just unbelievable.
“And yet, during that tournament they were booing him, I think it’s a disgrace really. I don’t see that with the Lions, I see it as; there will be all the nations who appreciate him and if he plays will be behind him because they know what he does.
Farrell may go into the Lions tour with a point to prove with his England career ending on a sour noteGetty Goode believes Farrell can have the type of effect on the Lions squad to one of NFL legend Tom BradyGetty“But ultimately I think everyone will lift in the whole organisation, coaches, physios, players knowing he’s there. Is it peak Owen Farrell? We don’t know, it could be. Can he raise himself on big occasions? If anyone can, it’s Owen.”
Goode believes his mate can be the Lions answer to NFL’s GOAT Tom Brady and guide the team to greatness even if he is heading towards the twilight of a remarkable career and explained: “He is 100 per cent [a modern great].
“I think he’s underappreciated sometimes because you’re trying to measure the intangibles – it’s a bit of the Tom Brady effect in that he’s not the fastest, not the strongest, not the most agile, doesn’t beat loads of players.
“He doesn’t do the flash things but what you do in the week is what you see at the weekend.
“For someone who isn’t hugely athletic, he has great fitness underpinning everything, will work hard and is so fit. And off the back of that, he is so competitive, he has a brilliant rugby brain and as I said he can bring a quality to the group that will lift his team.
“You don’t see a bad Owen Farrell team when he’s playing 10, he’s being there and he’s leading it. You don’t see bad teams like that.”
Farrell didn’t feature in the Lions’ win during their warm-up clash against New South Wales Waratahs on SaturdayGettySo why does Goode think the Lions opted for Farrell over other options including Tom Jordan of Scotland who can play in multiple positions in the back line?
Saracens most capped player of all time explained: “I’ve been going over my head as to the real benefits of Owen being there. I think what I’ve seen from the Lions so far is; it’s been a bit mistake riddled.
“This team doesn’t have a lot of experience and I think someone like Owen is going to be incredible for the whole group, he is going to pick up standards on training, he’s going to bring an intensity that is more intense than anyone else on that training field.
“The whole group will start going, ‘right we’ve got to be on it every single session’. Every single session matters when you’ve got such a short period of time and he’ll drive that.
“Do I think he’ll play in the test series? Unlikely, but I think his impact on the standards at training which will then show itself in games will be dramatic.
“He’ll be incredible for the midweek group, it’s easy for the midweekers to get lost when you’re not picked. I had it with England, you’re in the bibs on tour and you’re not going to get to play – you think you can just go out and have fun and not really train.
It’s been suggested that Scotland centre Jordan could’ve replaced Daly instead of FarrellAFP The Lions have two more warm-up matches before the first Test against Australia on July 19Getty“He’ll be onto those guys to set the tone to help the test team prepare. I think that will be his biggest asset to the whole group.
“He has a mixture of being incredibly competitive but at the same time he’s also someone who brings the whole competition of the group up, he’s not afraid to say it.
“I’m sure there are players on that tour who are just as competitive but they probably do more of that individually, Owen does it as a collective, he makes sure that everyone’s on it, everyone’s getting something from the session.
“And I think that has an effect, you’re on your toes, you want to do well, you don’t want to get shouted at. If everyone’s doing that for the next four weeks then it will be a great tour.
“Some people will want to impress him, others won’t want to be told that they’re not doing it. It’ll become obvious if 90 per cent of the group are doing it, the ones who aren’t doing it, you’ll see that so quickly.
“I think it just lifts everyone, everyone starts to do a bit more, try a bit harder, pushing standards in training. I think that’ll be the biggest strength he brings to the group.”
The Lions on talkSPORT
talkSPORT has all of the British and Irish Lions matches live across the network. Eddie Jones is among the star-studded line-up leading the coverage Down Under.
June 20, Dublin: Lions vs Argentina
June 28, Perth: Lions vs Western Force
July 2, Brisbane: Lions vs Queensland Reds
July 5, Sydney: Lions vs New South Wales Waratahs
July 9, Canberra: Lions vs ACT Brumbies
July 12, Adelaide: Lions v ANZAC XV
July 12, Brisbane: Lions v Wallabies
July 22, Melbourne: Lions v First Nations and Pasifika XV
July 26, Melbourne: Lions v Wallabies
August 2, Sydney: Lions v Wallabies
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