ON THE FIELD, seeing Owen Farrell a bit rattled is nothing new.

Off it though, he is well versed in keeping himself guarded. The product, perhaps, of a life growing up in the shadow of his father, a legend of rugby league an instant international on his conversion to the beautiful form of the game.

That’s the line you walk with Farrell – who made his first appearance in professional rugby little over a week after his 17th birthday – one half nerveless post-splitter, the other a temper tantrum waiting to happen.

Doubtless, he is maturing on this Lions tour – most of us would have attempted worse than clapping after being sucker punched in the side of the head by a club-mate – but the focus on his goal-kicking and little else from his local journalists tested his patience yesterday.

“Kicking wise?” He asked pointedly after a question about Leigh Halfpenny. As if he and the fullback were part of special teams, to be called onto the field along with the red kicking tee.

“You talking about me?” Chimed the passing Welshman.

“They keep asking me about kicking!”

He’s good at it, you see, with a 95% success rate when the Wales fullback has stepped aside on this tour. As a result the media in his native land are desperate for the blonde-haired, blue-eyed, ready-made replacement for Jonny Wilkinson.

“I think we both just enjoy kicking.” said Farrell, giving in to the inevitable. “It’s something you love doing, you love the responsibility and that’s why you practice so hard.”

Individuals always improve on a Lions tour. Whether it’s the renewed belief of being among the top 40 players in Britain and Ireland or just the stepping up on seeing your peers raise the bar. After eight questions about his goal-kicking, though, Farrell forgot his platitudes.

“Look, everyone just wants to do the best they can and put your best foot forward. When someones playing well, like the team here tonight, you’re looking to push the weekend team as well.”

From a long way out, Jonathan Sexton has been a certain Lions number 10. Farrell, to his credit, doesn’t kid around about dislodging him, but having watched him receive the a ball almost flat on the gain-line against the Melbourne Rebels, you trust him when he claims to be “learning a lot” from the Ireland out-half.

©INPHO/Dan Sheridan

As for the small matter of a potential series-deciding second Test against the Wallabies, the 21-year-old sounds suitably hungry to finish the job.

“Obviously, I don’t know what’s happening, whether I’ll be involved or not, but it’s massive.” He said with his shoulders relaxing again.

“To be a part of this and be a part of a team such as this weekend- the opportunity to go 2-0 would be an unbelievable achievement for any team down here. Especially for a team that’s been put together not so long ago, even if it is full of brilliant players.”

Talk of 2-0 is dangerous, though. You wouldn’t be getting complacent now Owen, would ya?

His urge to kill began rising again.

“Silly question really. To even contemplate complacency after one win in a three-test series would be ridiculous. We’re preparing as well as we would do [for a must-win]. We take the positives and look at the things we could do better.

“You’ve always got to be better. People play against eachother and get used to playing against eachother and figure eachother out that little bit more.

“If you’re not getting better you’re going in the wrong direction. There’s only one direction we want to go in anyway.”

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