Owen Farrell named new captain of Saracens
Saracens have announced that England international Owen Farrell will take over the club captaincy on a permanent basis.
Farrell has been with Saracens since his professional rugby debut in 2008 and has racked up 201 appearances including 125 Premiership games. He will take over the club reins from Brad Barritt, who announced his retirement at the end of the 2019/20 season.
“We are thrilled that Owen has accepted the invitation to become club captain,” said McCall.
“In truth, he has been at the heart of the Saracens project from a young age and his leadership has been key to any success the club has had.
“Owen cares deeply about the club and his teammates, he has a unique ability to inspire those around him, both by what he does and what he says.
“He is thoughtful, insightful and modest but at his core he is a competitor who will never stop trying to improve; he pushes everyone here to be better.
“We are excited for all that is ahead for Owen, for this team and for our club.”
The 29-year-old has played 93 Tests for England and captained them to a World Cup final in 2019 where they lost to eventual winners South Africa. He was also part of the 2013 and 2017 British and Irish Lions tours of Australia and New Zealand respectively and featured in four Tests.
“It’s a massive honour, a big privilege,” he said. “This club’s been a massive part of my life for a long time now and to be asked to be captain is a massive privilege.
“There are a lot of people who are engrained in this place, who know exactly what it’s all about and they’re the ones that drive it every day and the ones that know the standards that we set.
“There’s a lot of care around the place and that is shown in a lot of ways; driving each other, being honest with each other, supporting each other and that’s massive when it comes to working in the same place every day.
“When I think of all the good captains that I’ve been lucky enough to be under is that they’ve been themselves. They’ve learnt a lot but they’ve been themselves throughout and it’s important to be authentic.”
