Booing Owen Farrell? We should be proud of one of our greats

OWEN FARRELL: captain, leader... pantomime villain. Supporters booing England's record points scorer need to get their slogans straight and their heads examined.

- Nick Purewal

Farrell has served England with distinction, pride, tenacity and maturity across 110 caps, racking up 1,206 points in the process.

And yet the 32-year-old remains a lightning rod for criticism and flak, much of the nonsense sitting embarrassingly at schoolkid level.

Farrell is the epitome of the legend that should complete the triple phrase Chelsea made famous in honour of John Terry.

Captain Farrell will lead England into Saturday's World Cup semi-final in Paris against South Africa, the mighty defending champions.

Whatever anyone's wider views of the man, now is the time for the nation to unite behind its rugby figurehead.

The Saracens superstar has never put a foot wrong off a rugby field, and barely so on the pitch either. A committed husband and father, a fiercely loyal friend, a relentless teammate.

So where is the caricature that people boo? That persona is nothing more than a figment of warped imaginations.

Fans at Marseille's Stade Velodrome booed Farrell before kick-off in Sunday's World Cup quarter-final against Fiji, when the England captain's name was announced to the crowd.