World Cup: England coach hails record-breaker Owen Farrell

The 32-year-old skipper kicked two conversions and a penalty during England’s 18-17 victory over Samoa in their final Rugby World Cup Pool D fixture at Stade Pierre Mauroy in Lille.

And Farrell now has 1186 points, having overtaken 2003 World Cup winner Jonny Wilkinson’s previous record of 1179 points.

Samoa, who fielded Saracens’ Theo McFarland, surprisingly led 14-8 at the break through two converted Nigel Ah-Wong but Ollie Chessum and Danny Care both crossed in the second period to preserve England’s unbeaten record in France ahead of a quarter-final with Fiji in Marseille on Sunday.

Eroni Mawi played in Fiji’s shock 24-23 defeat to Portugal but their losing bonus point was enough to see them oust Australia to secure their showdown with Steve Borthwick’s troops.

And Borthwick, who played for Sarries between 2008-14, believes record-breaker Farrell is an incredible role model for the sport.

“What a player he is,” said Borthwick.

“I know everyone is going to talk about kicking the points but what a phenomenal player and leader. He was integral leading this team through a very difficult game through a performance that was very scrappy to get a win.

“It’s testament to a man who has dedicated himself to be the very best he can be. The best player he can be, the best leader he can be, the best person around the squad and I think he’s an incredible role model.

“I was chatting with a couple of people and their young children, the person they would look up to the most and it’s this man (Farrell). For this guy to have the impact on so many lives, he’s such a great role model. 

“It’s a privilege for me as coach to be able to work with him. Hopefully there will be many more times for Owen to be in that England shirt and continue to play as well as he does.”

Farrell, who played alongside clubmates Jamie George, Ben Earl, Maro Itoje and Billy Vunipola, says he is fully concentrated on team matters despite his record-breaking achievement.

“I’ve not really thought of it too much in the minute,” he told ITV Sport.

“Obviously it’s a big honour, a massive honour, especially for this team but my mind is fully focused on this team and it will be for a while so I guess I’ll look back on it later on.”

Farrell said it was the type of test they needed before facing the Flying Fijians, who stunned England in a World Cup warm-up at Twickenham in August

“I think it’s good we’ve had a tough match,” he added. “Samoa are a tough team and showed that in many different ways. They put us under pressure at times and that could only put us in good stead in our preparation for Sunday’s game.”

Sarries Nick Tompkins helped Wales to a convincing 43-19 victory over Georgia to set up a quarter-final showdown with Argentina in Marseille on Saturday, as Lucio Cinti and Juan Martin Gonzalez appeared in the Pumas’ entertaining 39-27 victory over Japan.

Hosts France play holders South Africa at the Stade De France on Sunday, having proved too powerful for Marco Riccioni and his Italy squad in a 60-7 victory.

The other last-eight tie sees Ireland face three-time champions New Zealand on Saturday, with all matches live on ITV.