Former England captain Owen Farrell mentioned he doesn’t perceive the social media “poison” that always surrounds high stage sport and that contributed to him strolling away from worldwide rugby after the 2023 World Cup.
The 33-year-old was named by his father, British & Irish Lions coach Andy Farrell, as captain for Tuesday’s match towards a First Nations & Pasifika XV in Melbourne, after becoming a member of the tour as substitute for the injured Elliot Daly.
He has not performed a Take a look at since stepping again from nationwide obligation in November 2023 to prioritise his psychological well being, earlier than becoming a member of French facet Racing 92, returning to Saracens in June.
“I perceive instances are totally different and issues catch hearth faster. Issues develop legs, take a lifetime of their very own, go wherever they go and there is momentum behind them. However no, I do not all the time perceive it,” Farrell instructed reporters on Monday, when requested in regards to the on-line discourse.
“Each are a poison … the nice and the dangerous. To not say that it is all dangerous, however the issues that ought to matter to me and will matter to us as gamers are the those that matter to us.”
Racist abuse on-line pressured England girls’s footballer Jess Carter to step away from social media on Sunday, with the defender saying she had been a goal since Euro 2025 started.
Farrell beforehand spoke out towards social media abuse when he condemned the web vitriol confronted by England flanker Tom Curry in the course of the 2023 World Cup after he accused a South African opponent of abusing him throughout a match.
“I suppose the individuals I feel we should always take heed to are the right rugby individuals, your mates. Not that these individuals will simply pat you on the again,” Farrell mentioned.
“You’ve individuals who will inform you the place it’s on the similar time, however they gives you an actual reply. Should you do this and you might be in a superb place your self, then you may cope with it.”
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