Owen Farrell confirms he is ‘not retired’ from England and international duty as he returns to Saracens
Published 17/06/2025 at 14:25 GMT+1
Fresh from the announcement that Owen Farrell is returning to Saracens on a two-year deal following a season spent at Racing 92 in France, further details have emerged as to where the fly half sees his future going, and crucially, whether he will ever pull on an England shirt again, much less a Lions jersey. One thing is clear: Farrell is "not retired" from England duty.
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Former England captain Owen Farrell says he is "not retired" from England duty after his return to Saracens was announced.
By moving to Racing 92 in France last year, Farrell ruled himself out of selection for England, who have a policy of only selecting players based on home soil with some limited exceptions.
But now that Farrell is back at Saracens, the conversation can be restarted as to whether he will wear the red rose again, having last played for England at the 2023 World Cup.
"Who knows?" Farrell told Sky Sports when asked if he is planning to return to England duty.
"The only point for me now at the minute is getting back here [Saracens] and loving what I'm doing.
"I really think I can do that while getting more out of me and that, therefore, hopefully puts me in a really good place to have a good impact here, and then who knows after that.
"That's the starting point for me."
Farrell left his Racing 92 contract one year early, after suffering from a hip injury and also concussion. At 33 years old, Farrell has plenty of years ahead of him if he wants to keep putting his body through the gruelling rigours of professional rugby.
But with many English stars touring with the British & Irish Lions this summer, there could be an immediate use for the record-breaking fly-half, with England set to tour Argentina.
"I'm not retired," Farrell confirmed.
"But the only thing I'm looking at now is getting back to feeling good."
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Farrell initially took a break from England duty due to mental health concerns, before his sabbatical was made permanent with his move to France. But he was keen to emphasise that he has plenty of positive memories from his time with the national squad.
"I don't ever want that [criticism] to be what people think it's like to play for England. It's not. I've loved my England career.
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"I've loved my time in camp. Some of the more special games I've played have obviously been with England.
"It was just what I was going through at that time, and the accumulation of stuff. I just wanted to make sure that I was doing the right thing.
"This time, dealing with myself and having time to reflect on myself has just made me more clear on what I want, what I want to be, how I want to be, and I'm working towards that."
While an England call-up is on the balance of probability, quite likely, a Lions call-up seems less so, even if head coach Andy Farrell knows his son’s game and what he can offer better than anyone else.
So, could Farrell even end up on a plane to Australia?
"With everything, what I'm saying is my focus is to get myself right and get myself in a good place and everything else is hypothetical at the minute," he added.
"We'll see what happens. Hopefully, I've matured a fair bit and I've grown, so I'm looking forward to what's to come."
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