Rugby league legend Martin Offiah has chosen Andy Farrell’s return to Twickenham to reveal the day he says changed rugby union forever – and his old teammate’s part in it.
Farrell leads Grand Slam-chasing Ireland out against England on Saturday, 28 years on from his debut at the old Cabbage Patch.
In the history of the sport, there is not a day to compare with 11 May 1996, when Farrell introduced himself to rugby union and left to a standing ovation.
He was part of a Wigan team invited to break new ground by competing in the Middlesex Sevens, the first rugby league side to set foot on Twickenham.
Opening union’s eyes
Farrell, Offiah and Shaun Edwards, Jason Robinson, Henry Paul and Inga Tuigamala, Gary Connolly, Kris Radlinski and Rob Smyth ran rings around all-comers, holding a 61,000 crowd spellbound.
“We opened the world of rugby union’s eyes to rugby league,” Offiah, league’s highest try-scoring Englishman of all time, exclusively told Planet Rugby.
“Since that day league’s influence on union, in terms of defensive and attacking structure, has been clear to see.
“I remember Andy and Shaun saying in the changing rooms, ‘We can’t ruck, we can’t scrum, we can’t maul, but we can tackle. We’re fit, so let’s tackle. Everything else will sort itself out’.
“It was the day the concept of defence wins games was born. I don’t think union knew anything about that.”
If only England had faith in Farrell
Offiah, 58, admits he always thinks of that occasion when he goes back to Twickenham.
“I also think, ‘God, if only England had had more faith in Andy after the 2015 World Cup. What would we have now,” he added.
“He’s the number one coach in the northern hemisphere. What he’s doing with Ireland is fantastic. They’re odds-on to beat England. Steve Borthwick needs a win, but I don’t think he’s going to get it.”
Wigan’s sevens triumph, beating Lawrence Dallaglio’s Wasps 38-15 in the final, came days after they hammered Bath 82-6 at Maine Road in the ‘league’ leg of their clash-of-the-codes meeting.
Rugby union was in turbulent transition away from amateurism and, despite winning the second leg 44-19 under union laws, it was evident league was night and day ahead on all matters related to professionalism.
“We have a lot to learn,” Dallaglio admitted after the Middlesex final. “No team in union comes close to being as fit as Wigan. They get up in the morning, clock on and go to the gym. The time and commitment they put in is total.
“They pass the ball every day. The lines they run, the quality of their support play, their wholly professional attitude, is something we must look at closely.”
How different a time this was is illustrated by the fact that Offiah was ‘banned” from Rosslyn Park when he left to switch codes with Widnes.
These days, he is immortalised in a bronze statue outside Wembley Stadium, but that afternoon at Twickenham, he says, was “literally rugby union versus rugby league – initially, at least, nobody wanted these upstarts from up north to come and beat them”.
First impression of Andy Farrell
A central figure for Wigan was 20-year-old Farrell who, the following week, would be named England captain and be also leading both Wigan and Great Britain by the end of the year.
“I remember the first time I met Andy, walking into the gym at Wigan in 1992,” says Offiah. “I said, ‘Who’s that big lad there?’ ‘It’s Andy Farrell, he’s 17 and already in the first team’.
“I thought, ‘Jeez, he’s big’. He was a colossus. Not only did he have the size, he also had the footballing skills. But it was the mind of the guy. I knew from the start he was going to go on to great things.”
And now. Three decades later, his Ireland team are closing in on back-to-back Grand Slams, a feat never achieved in the Six Nations era. He has also been appointed head coach of next year’s Lions tour to Australia.
“The surprise would have been had he not been successful,” says Offiah, who scored 501 tries across a 14-year career in England and Australia.
“I was renowned for what I did with the ball in my hands or chasing someone down. With Andy, it was the influence he had on teams.
“I played with certain individuals over my career that you knew were captains. Shaun [Edwards], Lawrence [Dallaglio], in the last year of my career at Wasps, I knew were special people. Andy was another.
“They say sometimes that leaders are made, that you acquire skills over time, but in the great ones there is a certain DNA, as if they were born to lead.
“Some call it X-factor, others charisma. It’s hard to put a finger on what exactly it is. All you know is some people have it and most don’t. Andy has authenticity, but also humility. People gravitate to him.”
READ MORE: England legend casts doubt on ‘inexperienced’ coaches and weighs in on Steve Borthwick’s position