Are Owen Farrell and Andy Farrell related?


Owen Farrell and Andy Farrell are two of the biggest names in rugby at the moment. Considering the two share a last name, a lot of people have wondered whether the pair are related. 

Are Owen Farrell and Andy Farrell related? Andy Farrell and Owen Farrell are related. Andy Farrell is Owen Farrell’s father. This is an odd dynamic when you consider that the two are on opposing sides whenever Ireland and England play against each other. 

Andy Farrell and Owen Farrell are two big names in rugby. Andy is the head coach of one of the best Irish rugby sides in history, while Owen is one of the best English rugby players in history. So it may surprise a few people to hear that the two are related. 

Owen Farrell is Andy Farrell’s son. Owen was born when Andy was just 16 years old. Owen grew up in Wigan because his father was playing for Wigan Warriors throughout Owen’s childhood. This does now make things slightly awkward considering the two are on different sides of international rugby now. 

How much is Andy Farrell paid? 

Andy Farrell has done a brilliant job of turning Ireland into the best rugby team in the world. At the moment they are in a great position to win the 2023 Rugby World Cup, having won the Grand Slam earlier in 2023. 

It is estimated that Andy Farrell earns around £600,000 per year. Andy Farrell took over the head coaching job with Ireland after the 2019 Rugby World Cup. It is a very difficult job but Andy Farrell is certainly compensated well for it. 

Considering the position that Andy Farrell has Ireland in, he could be in for a pay rise very soon. But Andy Farrell is still currently one of the highest-paid coaches in rugby. 

What nationality is Andy Farrell? 

A lot of people think that Andy Farrell is Irish, partly down to him being the head coach of the Irish national team. However, this is not the case despite the Farrell family having some Irish heritage.

Andy Farrell is English. Andy Farrell was born in Wigan in the north of England. He grew up in Wigan and started playing rugby for Wigan at a young age. Andy Farrell is also one of the few Englishmen to represent England in both Rugby Union and Rugby League, having qualified through being born and raised in England. 

Who did Andy Farrell play rugby for? 

While Andy Farrell might be best known for being the father of England captain Owen Farrell as well as Ireland’s head coach, Andy Farrell also had a long rugby-playing career himself. 

Andy Farrell played rugby league for Wigan Warriors, Great Britain and England, as well as playing rugby union for Saracens and England. Farrell made his Wigan debut in 1991 having developed with local club Orrell St. He would play for Wigan for 13 years, making 370 appearances for the team. 

With Wigan Warriors, Andy Farrell developed into one of the best players in the team’s history. He won seven Super League titles as well as six Challenge Cup titles. All of that success led Andy to play for England and Great Britain.

Internationally he started in the 1995 Rugby League World Cup Final, coming out on the

wrong side against Australia. But Andy’s rugby career did not finish when his Rugby League career ended in 2004. He instead moved to Rugby Union, signing a contract with Saracens. 

Andy Farrell would also play rugby for Saracens and England in Rugby Union. Andy Farrell only played Rugby Union for a few years, but still made over 30 appearances for Saracens as well as 8 caps for England. Injuries meant Andy Farrell’s career was a lot shorter than he had hoped. 

Did Andy and Owen Farrell play together? 

Owen and Andy Farrell were both contracted to Saracens for a few years. Andy Farrell had signed with Saracens in 2005 after a long career in Rugby League. At the time that he moved to Saracens, his son Owen was just starting to get closer to professional rugby.

Owen Farrell joined the Saracens Academy in 2005, being promoted to the first team in 2008. Owen would make his first team debut for Saracens in 2008 when he was just 16 years old in the EDF Energy Cup. 

Despite that, Andy and Owen Farrell did not play a game together. They came close a few times to playing together. In the fact, the pair were on the bench together for a pre-season game but did not play together. They would have played against each other in training quite a bit, but never played together in a competitive game. 

Why is Andy Farrell the Ireland head coach? 

It certainly confuses a few people that Andy Farrell is the head coach of the Ireland rugby team considering he has played for England in both Rugby League and Rugby Union as well as previously being on the coaching staff with England. 

Andy Farrell joined the Irish coaching staff in 2016, becoming the team’s defence after the 2016 Six Nations. Farrell had begun his coaching with Saracens, the team he had finished his playing career with. He joined the England coaching team not that long after that, impressing in his limited coaching. 

Farrell impressed massively as England’s defence coach, touring with the British and Irish Lions in 2013 as the team’s defence coach. But Farrell was part of the England coaching squad for the disastrous 2015 Rugby World Cup campaign in England. 

This means that when Eddie Jones became England’s head coach after the world cup, Farrell was part of the staff that was sacked. Farrell became Ireland’s defence coach not long after that, with Joe Schmidt identifying him as a very talented coach. 

In November 2018 it was announced that Andy Farrell would take over as Ireland’s head coach after the 2019 Rugby World Cup. Farrell has been very successful in that role and has turned Ireland into the best rugby team in the world. He has done an excellent job as Ireland’s head coach. 

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