It's been an awkward few days for the Farrell family, with what appears to be the whole rugby community having a say on Owen Farrell's red card and subsequent disciplinary hearing. Well, father of the England captain and Ireland Head Coach, Andy Farrell, has given his opinion of the 'circus' that surrounds his son.
Ireland welcome England to the Aviva Stadium on Saturday for an important warm-up match ahead of this year's World Cup, in what will be a huge test for both sides as they look to make their mark heading into the competition.
Both of the old rivals have selected near-enough full-strength sides as they look to gain an important victory for both themselves and their fans.
The main talking points have unfortunately now become less about the upcoming match, and more about a certain individual leading up to the match. Owen Farrell's reunion with his father will be kept to the stands rather than the pitch, following a World Rugby appeal process that has caused England Head Coach Steve Borthwick to leave his captain out of the squad.
"The commentary I've seen has moved off the tackle and become a commentary on the man," Borthwick said about the growing frenzy. "People think they know the man. They think they know the character of Owen Farrell. Some of the stuff that's been said - it's just wrong.
"I don't know quite why everyone seems to have launched personal attacks. Owen has handled himself throughout this situation in an exemplary manner.
"It's been a disruption this week and it will be a disruption next week in the final weeks before the World Cup."
This sentiment was backed up by a clearly frustrated, and somewhat hurt Andy Farrell: "Whatever I say is probably flawed anyway," said the 48-year-old Ireland coach.
"When you're talking about somebody's son and asking the question, it's always going to be flawed, so what does that really matter?
"I don't normally say too much because of that type of reason about my son.
"The circus that's gone on in and around all of this is absolutely disgusting, in my opinion, disgusting, in my opinion, I suppose those people that have loved their time in the sun get a few more days to keep going at that."
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