'It has been a difficult decision but it is an exciting one for our family' - Owen Farrell

Former England captain Owen Farrell admitted that the decision to move to Racing 92 next season was a difficult one.

Farrell will be leaving Saracens at the end of the ongoing season with French club Racing signing him on a two-year deal. The move would also make him ineligible to represent England due to the Rugby Football Union's selection policy of not picking players plying trade overseas.

He has overall featured for England in 112 Tests and was also part of the side that clinched the Grand Slam in 2016 and the squad that reached the final of the 2019 Rugby World Cup and led them to the semi-final of the 2023 World Cup.

“It’s tough leaving a place that has been my home since I was 14,” Farrell said in an interview published on Saracens’ account on X.

“It has been a difficult decision but it is an exciting one for our family. It has never been something we have thought about before, doing anything different.

“But for the first time ever we thought it would be good to go and experience something different and the time feels right.”

The 32-year-old has been with Saracens since his professional rugby debut in 2008 and has featured in over 200 games for Saracens across all competitions, winning six Premiership titles and three European Rugby Champions Cups.

He was appointed the captain of Saracens in 2021 and remained committed to them when they faced relegation in 2020 for series of salary cap breaches and helped them win the second tier Championship competition in the 2020/21 season that saw them making a return back to the Premiership.

“I was nervous about having some conversations, even bringing it up, because it’s never been thought about, let alone discussed before.

“But once we got into the conversations they were easy to have because of the calibre of the people here.

“The club have been fantastic with us throughout this year and it really counts for something when they care about nothing but the person.

“I want to enjoy the rest of this year. It has never been taken for granted playing for this club. People stay here for a long time, as a lot of us have,” he said.

“Going in to the back end of the year we are looking to make it the best we can. I can’t wait to enjoy that over the coming months.”