England vs South Africa: Jamie George lifts the lid on Owen Farrell’s captaincy and his private team meetings

England captain has learned from his more frustrated days to grow into a captain that, by George’s admission instils a belief in the squad that he is the right man to lead them into Saturday’s Rugby World Cup final

On Saturday evening at around 5:55pm in Yokohama, the England squad will huddle up for the last time before they head out for the Rugby World Cup final. There will be a few voices speaking carefully-chosen words, the leaders among them such as Courtney Lawes, Mako Vunipola and George Ford speaking loudest, before the final words fall to Owen Farrell. But there will be one overriding factor among all of them in those final minutes: calm.

This will come as a surprise for anyone who watches Farrell on the pitch. He is loud in voice and in action, a leader by example through what he says and the way that he says it, so to learn that the sweary-shouty approach is not one that he takes perhaps goes against what conforms to the Farrell stereotype.

But Farrell will not need to use a lot of words on Saturday because most of the talking will be done 24 hours before, on Friday night.

“I just can’t wait for Friday,” said Jamie George, his England and Saracens teammate, childhood friend and this summer an usher at Farrell’s wedding. “That is his meeting, Friday night we have a meeting and we like to call it a captain’s meeting or team meeting. There are no coaches in the room. He just asks us how we are feeling and if anyone has anything to say.

“Often people will get something off their chest if they are thinking about the game and then he says his bit and without fail you could hear a pin drop. Everyone is hanging on every word that he says. It is very inspirational without tearing the roof down because that is probably not what is needed but he has a very good feel of what the team needs and what messages he needs to deliver.”

The important thing for Farrell is that the opportunity is there for every voice to be heard, no matter how big or small, because come Saturday evening on the biggest stage within the sport, there will be no place for any extra baggage. “There have been short meetings, there have been meetings that have lasted half an hour, 40 minutes. It varies pretty much on how much the other lads want to speak. Often they don't, but usually Mako will say his piece, Maro often has a little bit, Courtney speaks a little bit.

“I think in Owen's mind its quite nice to hear from people who haven’t been speaking, who haven't got a huge leadership role in the team. He often draws on their feelings and experiences and sees how they're feeling.

“I'd say it’s 90 per cent emotion, 10 per cent tactical. But it's not shouting and screaming – you are able to get your head down to sleep after it! No one is crying in there – I don't know, I might do this week – but he gets that balance quite nice and it sets the tone then for the build-up because Owen talks a lot about the build-up starting through the week, but it also starts from the minute you wake up on the Saturday – the image you give off to the people around you, even in the way you walk to breakfast. You are always constantly giving off a message to other people, about what your mindset is and how you are feeling.

“For me, I have certainly been in those meetings and I felt like I have needed to say something. I don't know whether I will on Friday but there might be some people in the team who feel like they need to speak. And they often need that more for their own sake than the team's sake. It probably will be shorter."

Farrell has had to do plenty of learning on the job as a team captain. He still does not lead his club side Saracens, and he was quickly elevated from vice-captain to co-captain to full captain in 2018 in what was either a sensible decision from Eddie Jones, or the early awareness that Dylan Hartley would struggle to make the World Cup in one piece.

Jamie George has been how Farrell has developed as a leader for the last 14 years (Getty)

But then leadership does course through the 27-year-old’s veins. His father Andy was one of the great captain’s rugby league has ever seen, a trait that has helped him to successfully transition into the coaching world of rugby union. Owen is not his father, but there is no doubt that Andy has shaped the player and person who will run out on the field on Saturday against the Springboks, even if he has developed that quality into something that works for himself.

“I'd say Owen is putting his own stamp on things,” added George. “They have the same aura about them, Andy is incredibly inspirational in his own right but they do it in different ways. I never worked with Andy as a player, but there is always a difference between the message you need to deliver as a captain and the message you need to deliver as a coach.

“There are certain parallels between the two of them – the accent is one of them! But the nice thing is that Owen has developed a leadership style now that is his own. And it is pretty impressive.

Farrell is very much a captain who leads by example (Getty) (World Rugby via Getty)

“He has been a leader since I have known him at 14. Back then it was probably a lot more shouting because of frustration more than anything but now I think he has just developed a huge amount. As a leader I can’t speak highly enough of him.

“He is the sort of person you want to follow. He leads from the front but at the same time I think he is a person you can trust because you know first of all that he is the best at it in terms of his rugby ability but also the amount of tape that he watches. You know for a fact that the messages that he is giving you, he has been thinking about over and over again. He is very good at delivering a theme and messages that build up nicely throughout the week.”

So as the team settles down on Friday night ahead of the biggest game of their lives, what will be on the agenda? That is for them only to know, but you can guarantee that if there is anything that needs to be said from the top, Farrell will know how to get his message through to his players.