‘Bit of laziness there’
Published 07/04/2024 at 19:11 GMT
TNT Sports pundit Lawrence Dallaglio said “one or two players need to be shown the door” at Racing 92 after Stuart Lancaster’s side were dumped out of the Investec Champions Cup by Toulouse. The all-French last-16 clash was a one-sided affair as Toulouse ran in five tries in a 31-7 victory, with Dallaglio backing Owen Farrell to spark an upturn in form next season.Owen Farrell, the Saracens captain, looks dejected after their defeat during the Gallagher Premiership Rugby match against Northampton Saints at Franklin’s Gardens on March 29, 2024.
Image credit: Getty Images
Lawrence Dallaglio believes Owen Farrell will “drive standards up” at Racing 92 when he joins the French Top 14 side next season.
The England international has signed a two-year deal to link up with Stuart Lancaster in Paris and bring his time at Saracens to an end.
Racing’s hopes of landing a maiden Investec Champions Cup title were brought to an abrupt halt with a 31-7 defeat to Toulouse in the last 16, with Dallaglio citing “laziness” and lack of leadership in the team as the cause.
Siya Kolisi, who captained South Africa to successive World Cups in 2019 and 2023, joined Racing after lifting the Webb Ellis Cup last year and Dallaglio thinks he and Farrell could have a similar impact to that of Jonny Wilkinson when he led Toulon to domestic and European glory.
“We’ve already seen the direction of travel,” Dallaglio said on TNT Sports. “By bringing in Kolisi and by bringing in Owen Farrell I think what he [Lancaster] is admitting is the winning mindset isn’t there and they need to bring that belief.
“One thing those two have is leadership and a belief system that anything and everything is possible. And they also set incredibly high standards, both as human beings but also on the rugby field as well.
“They will drive the standards up in the same way as maybe Wilkinson did when he went to Toulon.
“It’s not always a Frenchman. Yes, [Antoine] Dupont is driving the standards at Toulouse but clearly, there is a little bit of laziness in that Racing team.”
Toulouse were not at their best in setting up a last-eight clash with Exeter Chiefs, but still had enough firepower to see off Racing.
Peato Mauvaka opened the scoring in the sixth minute, but Racing would have levelled in the 19th minute but for the superb last-ditch tackle from Jack Willis.
From that moment on, there was only one winner. Matthis Lebel finished off a slick counter to make it 10-0 at the break before Paul Costes, Pita Ahki and Alexandre Roumat notched second-half tries to put the result beyond doubt.
The gulf in class was evident according to Dallaglio, who also said the time was right for some players to be moved on.
“They need to be better coached, they need to get fitter and there’s a few players that probably, in other clubs, their contracts would have probably been cut,” Dallaglio added.
“They’ve got an aging front five and one or two players need to be shown the door.”
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