England’s attack coach says booing fans are wrong about Owen Farrell

Owen Farrell receives unfair criticism and should be afforded greater recognition according to England’s defence coach, Richard Wigglesworth, after the captain was widely booed in the stadium before steering his side into the World Cup semi-finals.

Farrell scored 20 points on his return to fly-half in an impressive performance against Fiji on Saturday, including two crucial late kicks after the Pacific Islanders had rallied to level the scores at 24-24. He was announced as the official man of the match but beforehand, when his name was read out to the crowd, he was vociferously booed.

The 32-year-old is a player who continues to divide opinion despite becoming England’s record points scorer earlier in the competition but Wigglesworth – a former teammate of Farrell’s at Saracens – does not understand why he receives so much grief after his side booked a World Cup semi-final against South Africa on Saturday.

“We are lucky to have him,” Wiggleworth said. “As ever, the tallest trees catch the most wind, and he seems to catch a fair bit of it. [He’s] proven [himself] time and time and time again, and I don’t understand why in England we feel the need to not celebrate that, not enjoy it, just because he is not sat in front of social media or media lapping all that up.

“He is incredibly serious about his career, he is an incredibly proud Englishman, he affects any team he is in, and he was brilliant for us, as we knew he would be. That was the maddening part of any noise – we knew what was coming [from him].”