EXCLUSIVE Owen Farrell could play on the Lions Tour as well as return to England action, believes Danny Care - as his former team-mate gives his Australia series prediction and reveals his starting half-back pairing for first Test
Danny Care is adamant that the door is not shut on Owen Farrell playing international rugby again as soon as this summer, citing that he could claw his way into British and Irish Lions contention.
The Lions are preparing for their summer tour of Australia with a warm-up match against Argentina on Friday night at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin, before flying Down Under at the weekend.
Farrell's father, Andy, is the head coach for the class of 2025 and has hinted before that his son could be added to his 38-man travelling party in the future.
Farrell Jr has been back in the spotlight this week after his return to Saracens was officially announced following an injury-plagued campaign at Racing 92 in France.
The 33-year-old made just 17 appearances for the Top 14 outfit due to suffering several fitness setbacks in Paris.
His return to Saracens makes him eligible again for England selection, but his former team-mate at that level Care believes we may see him in action for the Lions before England first, fitness-permitting.
'I've said it for a while but if a 10 or 12 gets injured and Owen's fit then I think it would be very hard to look past him with the amount experience he's got,' Care told Mail Sport exclusively after learning what it is like to train with Emirates Great Britain SailGP athletes ahead of the Portsmouth event weekend next month.
'It's quite a young and youthful Lions squad, especially in that backline. There's not many lads, barring Finn Russell and a couple of others, who have played for the Lions before and experienced it.
'I know Owen is the ultimate competitor and its brilliant to have him back in the Premiership, I just have a funny feeling that we might see him in a red shirt at some point this summer.'
After leading England to third place at the 2023 Rugby World Cup, Farrell decided to take a step back from international duty for mental health reasons before joining Racing 92 last summer.
In his absence, Fin Smith has become the pre-eminent No 1 fly-half for country - with Marcus Smith and George Ford also vying for the shirt.
That three-way tussle could become a four-way battle though, according to Care.
'I saw an interview with him [Farrell] the other day saying that he hasn't retired.
'Knowing Owen as I do he's the most competitive person I've ever met, an unbelievable rugby player who drives standards better than I have ever seen.
'If England need a bit of leadership and help then why not? If he comes back, is fit and his body feels good then it'd be hard to put up a case against him. It's great to have him back for England, the Premiership and it could be great for him.'
While the Farrell situation remains a hypothetical one at the moment, the Lions tour is very much upon everyone - with Care excited about what's to come over the next six weeks.
The Lions are the favourites to win the best-of-three series in Australia and while Care agrees, the 38-year-old doesn't think the men in red will have it all their own way.
'It's huge and so exciting to get a first glimpse of the team on Friday night against Argentina. It's going to be tough but I think everyone's really excited to see the combinations to see how the team's going to play, how they're going to set themselves up.
'I see us going down there [Australia] and doing well. I think it'd be 2-1 to the Lions.
'I think the best thing for the series would be if it's 1-1 going into a decider and I can see that happening because I think people are underestimating the Aussies a little bit.'
Andy Farrell has a plethora of talent to pick from all over the pitch, but when asked who would he select as his half-back pairing for the first Test against the Wallabies in Brisbane on July 19, Care was concise in his decision-making.
'Finn Russell played really, really well for Bath in the Premiership final which maybe cemented the 10 shirt.
'I'll go with him and Jamieson Gibson-Park at scrum-half. Then I'll have Marcus Smith on the bench just to carve it up at either 10 or 15.'
After a decorated club and international career, Care hung up his rugby boots for good at the end of last month with his beloved Harlequins.
The 38-year-old still has the competitive juices flowing inside him though as demonstrated when he participated in a crossover event with members of the Emirates Great Britain SailGP team in London.
Emirates Great Britain SailGP team's Nick Hutton (trimmer/grinder), Neil Hunter (grinder) and Ellie Aldridge (strategist) took on Care and former England women's rugby star Shaunagh Brown, as well as some members of the media - including Mail Sport - in pitting their explosive power and dynamism of rugby the against the precision and endurance of elite sailing.
Overseeing the action was Professor Greg Whyte OBE - an Olympian, world renowned sport scientist, and human performance coach to the SailGP Emirates Great Britain team.
The participants were put through their paces with various exercises that tested their upper body and lower body limits as well as their plyometrics.
'Today has been wicked, it's been really cool to test yourselves against some incredible athletes, and some members of the media that turned out to be incredible athletes as well, like yourself,' Care reflected to Mail Sport.
'I'd say it's been humbling for me as I retired three or four weeks ago and I've not done an awful lot since, but it was really cool to test yourselves against obviously the SailGP lot. There are so many parallels in the movements that they do and we do in rugby union - they're just a bit better at them all than I was! It was cool to try it though.'
Asked about what was the hardest exercise to do, the former scrum-half was in no uncertain terms as to what that was.
'The arm-rower, the grinder, I have never seen before in my life and I never knew that machine existed.
'And watching those lads on it in particular, it was incredible that they managed to keep that power going full the full 30 seconds. Like, I got it into a good pace, and I was like, I must be nearly done. And he said I'd only done five seconds!
'That was tough but just to see their power output and how they could hold it was really impressive and maybe showed me that I need to work on the grinder.'
While the grinder can wait for Care, he can sit back and enjoy the Lions in action this summer. With Owen Farrell as a playing member? Only time will tell.
The Emirates Great Britain Sail Grand Prix | Portsmouth will be the seventh stop for the Rolex SailGP Championship's 2025 Season, taking place July 19-20, 2025 - with tickets still available at http://SailGP.com/portsmouth
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