Owen Farrell and dad Andy on Six Nations family clash as England face Ireland

17 March 2023 , 16:24

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Owen Farrell and dad Andy on Six Nations family clash as England face Ireland

Andy Farrell has insisted it has "never been difficult" battling his son Owen, who will return at fly-half for England when they face his Ireland side in the Six Nations on Saturday.

Farrell previously worked as an assistant coach with England under Stuart Lancaster, but left the role after Eddie Jones took over in 2015. He joined Ireland as defence coach in 2016, before being promoted to head coach after Joe Schmidt departed following the 2019 World Cup.

And while Farrell Sr is looking to clinch the Grand Slam with victory over England, Farrell Jr is hoping to lead an impressive fightback after he was dropped for England humiliating 53-10 defeat to France.

Speaking ahead of the clash, Farrell said facing his son "has never been difficult", explaining: "It's respect. We don't ask questions that put the other person in too much of a predicament.

"The grandkids [Tommy and Freddie] are coming over today as well, so we'll be trying to poach them into our Captain's Run tomorrow and see if we can squeeze them to cheer for Ireland. We'll see how that goes."

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Owen previously revealed ahead of the Six Nations how his dad had been attempting to convert his two sons into Ireland fans. "My eldest, Tommy, has an Ireland shirt and I asked him why?" Farrell said.

Owen and Andy Farrell will come up against each other in the Six Nations this weekend (Getty Images)

"He replied, 'it's grandad's team' and I said 'you can wear a suit like grandad does, then, not the kit!' They're into anything and my dad got them a Man City top.

"I'm not happy about that either!" Owen is a big Manchester United fan and actually had a trial at the club when he was 13-years-old, recalling in 2012: "I played in goal at school for a couple of games and one of our teachers at school was a coach with Manchester United youth.

"I was 13 and I had a bit of a trial. I wouldn't say I was a brilliant goalkeeper, I'd say I was learning! I enjoyed going down there. I was a big lad when I was younger and I had decent hands from playing rugby - I was always a rugby player really."

Matthew Cooper