MX23RW : Wednesday, April 24 04:11:51| >> :600:2966734:2966734:

On This Day: Andy Farrell completed Saracens transfer

On This Day: Andy Farrell completed Saracens transfer
© Reuters
Andy Farrell had enjoyed 13 trophy-laden years with Wigan.

Great Britain rugby league captain Andy Farrell switched codes to union and signed for Saracens on this day in 2005.

The Rugby Football Union (RFU) confirmed Farrell's three-year contract with Saracens, with league great Farrell crossing the divide to rugby union.

Farrell had enjoyed 13 heavily-decorated years at Wigan, winning 34 caps for Great Britain and 11 for England.

"Andrew is an outstanding player who has been a superb ambassador for rugby league on and off the field and we believe that he will do the same in rugby union," said RFU chief executive Francis Baron.

Rugby Union – IRB Rugby World Cup 2007 – Pool A – England v USA – Stade Felix Bollaert
Andy Farrell in Test action for the England rugby union side (David Davies/PA)

"Wigan and Saracens have been very co-operative and I'd like to thank them for all their help over the last few weeks."

A string of injuries delayed Farrell's Saracens debut until 2006, but he then went on to make his England bow in the 2007 Six Nations.

Injuries continued to hamper Farrell at every turn, and he only managed eight caps, but did go to the 2007 World Cup where England were beaten finalists.

A successful coaching career quickly followed, however, with Farrell impressing with Saracens before joining England's backroom staff in 2012.

Farrell helped the British and Irish Lions to a series win in Australia in 2013, but would lose his job with England after the 2015 World Cup, where head coach Stuart Lancaster's side became the worst-performing hosts in tournament history.

Farrell became Ireland defence coach in 2016, before succeeding Joe Schmidt as head coach following the 2019 World Cup in Japan.

ID:440367: cacheID:440367:1false2false3false:QQ:: from db desktop :LenBod:restore:4058:
Restore Data
Share this article now:
Elliot Daly pictured for Saracens in January 2020
Read Next:
Elliot Daly says he is still learning from Owen Farrell
>
Read more about Andy Farrell Rugby Union
rhs 2.0
Today's games header
10am
Munar
Borges
10am
Navone
Popyrin
10am
Vukic
Daniel
10am
Bouzas Maneiro
Badosa
10am
Davis
Sherif
10am
Putintseva
Yuan
10am
Stephens
Trevisan
10am
Zhu
Jimenez Kasintseva
11.30am
Altmaier
Landaluce
11.30am
Rinderknech
Shevchenko
11.30am
Safiullin
Seyboth Wild
11.30am
Arango
Anisimova
11.30am
Sorribes Tormo
Pera
11.30am
Zhang
Rogers
12pm
Osaka
Minnen
12pm
Vekic
Siegemund
1pm
Darderi
Monfils
1pm
Karatsev
Marozsan
1pm
Van Assche
Bergs
1pm
Linette
Cocciaretto
1pm
Wang
Tomova
1pm
Wang
Dolehide
1.30pm
Dart
Bucsa
1.30pm
Raducanu
Lourdes Carle
2.30pm
Bronzetti
Gracheva
2.30pm
Frech
Cristian
2.30pm
Hibino
Krueger
3pm
Coric
Hassan
3pm
Kokkinakis
Draper
3pm
Nakashima
Bagnis
3pm
Van De Zandschulp
Eubanks
4pm
Baptiste
Saville
4pm
Bejlek
Blinkova
4pm
Errani
Wozniacki
4pm
Montgomery
Avanesyan
4.30pm
Klein
Llamas Ruiz
4.30pm
Burel
Danilovic
5pm
Moutet
Shang
5.30pm
Diaz Acosta
Shapovalov
6pm
Andreeva
Townsend


Sports Mole provides in-depth previews and predictions for every match from the biggest leagues and competitions in world football.
Argentina's Lionel Messi kisses the World Cup trophy after collecting the Golden Ball award on December 18, 2022Sign up for our FREE daily preview newsletter direct to your inbox!