Farce over Farrell creating dissent in England's ranks

Life was meant to get easier for Andy Farrell. Fat chance. The former Great Britain rugby league captain's expensive transition to the union game, never less than controversial from the moment it was first mooted some 18 months ago, is fast becoming a serious thorn in the side of an England coaching panel desperate to put a positive spin on matters of state before the All Blacks arrive in all their silver-ferned finery next month.

Farrell did not train with England yesterday. Quite understandably, given his urgent need for game-time after a year and a half of injury hassle, he was packed off back to Saracens to prepare for Sunday's EDF Energy Cup meeting with Cardiff Blues at Vicarage Road. But when it comes to rugby problems, out of sight rarely means out of mind. And Farrell is a problem, make no mistake.

Andy Robinson, the head coach, and his red rose colleagues are completely at odds with the Saracens hierarchy on the subject of the 31-year-old cross-coder's optimum position. Robinson did not confirm this in so many words, but then, words tend to be superfluous when faces like thunder and tones of purest exasperation are the order of the day. Today he will meet with Alan Gaffney, the former Australia coach who took over as director of rugby at Vicarage Road in the summer, to debate the issue. Black market tickets are being sold for a ringside seat.

To add salt to the wound, there is also the small matter of perception in respect of Farrell's immediate presence in the wider Test squad. Hardened Premiership operators across a range of positions - the Gloucester lock Alex Brown, the Bath duo of scrum-half Nick Walshe and loose forward Andy Beattie, are prime examples - cannot currently find a way of breaking into the elite group and this sends out some very odd signals indeed. Whether or not the England coaches like it, there is a widespread assumption that they are picking Farrell purely because he cost the Rugby Football Union a packet.

Saracens are currently playing Farrell on the blind-side flank - a position that does not exist in rugby league. According to Gaffney, this is the player's natural role in union. England want to see Farrell in midfield, preferably at inside centre, where his distributive skills would be most valuable, but there is no sign of that happening any time soon. Indeed, Gaffney recently criticised Farrell for "running across the field", a heinous enough crime for any player, but a capital offence for a No 12.

"There is a discussion to be had, and it will be done confidentially," Robinson said. "I think that's the right way to proceed. I'm not going to set out the terms of the discussion in public."

He then added, tellingly: "We brought Andy across from league because we wanted to get the ball in his hands." Some blind-side flankers see some possession now and again, but nowhere near as much as their brethren at inside centre. It was clear from Robinson's comments that things have gone badly wrong, positionally speaking.

This much was confirmed by the England defence coach, Mike Ford - another recruit from league land, who happened to be working with Saracens when Farrell arrived from Wigan. "The idea was to play him in a position that gave the team creative opportunities," he said. "Where did we plan to play him? At 12. We didn't want to bring him across from league just to lose his skills."

The longer Robinson was pressed on the subject, the more irritable he became. "You're judging the man on two games of rugby union," he snapped. "Why not give him a chance and judge him after three or four months?" All of which begged some obvious questions. Why, for Pete's sake, was he in the elite squad on the basis of two games when others have played the best part of 200? Would it not have been better to wait? Could he not have learned all there is to learn in the less pressured surroundings of the senior national academy? If not, what on earth is the point of having an academy?

As ever, the politics hold the key. "The RFU laid out quite a bit of money, so I felt it was right to integrate Andy straight away," Robinson eventually admitted. "Also, there are issues with the way our training time and our access to players is set up. Unfortunately, this is the only way we can get to work with Andy under the present system. I cannot bring him in for training unless he is a member of the elite squad. That's the way it works."

All things considered, it is a mess. It is not Robinson's fault that the elite player agreement operates in so restrictive a way. Neither is it down to him that Saracens want to play a very costly recruit in a position that patently does not suit him. The source of the problem lays with the idea that a thirtysomething rugby league professional can cross the great divide and play a different game at the drop of a hat. Jason Robinson managed it, but he earned his 15-man spurs as a wing rather than in the kind of union-specific role to be found in the back row of the scrum.

The next World Cup is a year distant. For Andy Farrell, it is a light year away.