Six Nations
Farrell laughs off Telfer jibe
ESPN Staff
January 29, 2013
England assistant coach Andy Farrell, England training session, Winston Churchill School, Woking, England, February 9, 2012
Andy Farrell gave Jim Telfer's comments short shrift © Getty Images
Enlarge
Related Links
Players/Officials: Andy Farrell | Jim Telfer
Tournaments/Tours: Six Nations
Teams: England | Scotland

Coach Andy Farrell has hit back at former Scotland coach Jim Telfer's accusation that England are "arrogant".

A main aspect of Stuart Lancaster's England reign has been to eradicate any sense of arrogance in the national side in the wake of their disastrous 2011 World Cup campaign. Farrell revealed that the players laughed off Telfer's assertion that the team was "too arrogant, too pretentious and too condescending" and also said that some of the individuals who Telfer labelled "impressionable" - it was a claim made in the direction of Chris Ashton, Danny Care, Ben Youngs and Manu Tuilagi - brushed off the comments.

"I definitely don't recognise anything he has said," Farrell said of Telfer's comments. "People say this every year about the English anyway. It has stuck now. That is why we take it tongue-in-cheek. We know exactly what we are about.

"A couple of the lads have seen it and they are all taking the mick out of each other. They think it's quite funny about those who have been mentioned. There are a few jokes flying around the place."

Telfer's comments have certainly stoked the boiler ahead of Saturday's Six Nations opener at Twickenham, where Scotland have not won in 30 years, and that is what Farrell believed Telfer intended. Farrell added: "He's Scottish isn't he, very passionate about his country and he wants to give his lads as much belief as he can.

"He cares about his country. It is him trying to do the right thing by his own country, to try and motivate them. That is what he has always been about really - passion and stirring a few feathers up along the way. It is what you want, a bit of passion."

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.

Live Sports

Communication error please reload the page.

ABOUT COOKIES

To help make this website better, to improve and personalize your experience and for advertising purposes, are you happy to accept cookies and other technologies.

More Info Here Cookie Choices