We’ve come to expect Owen Farrell kicking exceptionally, but in the 2023 Six Nations so far, he has been off, from the tee.

Against Wales in Round Three, he made just two of his six shots at goal. He scored one penalty from his three attempts, and one conversion out of three. Which is a 33% success rate, if you round down. As he said himself to the BBC post match, “I was bad off the tee today.”

And as confirmed by Oval Insights, the rugby data providers, in the 2023 Six Nations so far, Farrell is kicking with around 47% success (again rounding to the nearest full percentage from 46.7%). He has made just seven of his 15 shots.

Look at the games so far.

Owen Farrell kick percentage in Six Nations

Against Scotland, Farrell made three of his five attempts at goal – slotting both of the penalties he took, but then only kicking one of his three conversion attempts.

Which comes out at a 60% success rate from the tee for Owen Farrell in the 2023 Calcutta Cup match.

Then in the match against Italy (remember there was a penalty try, meaning no kick is needed – a penalty try is automatically worth seven points as the referee runs under the posts) there were no penalties scored at all. But there were four conversion attempts. Farrell kicked two of those. Which means a 50% success rate.

Then when you add in the 33% success rate in front of the posts in Cardiff, you can understand why Farrell – and England fans – are a little bit disappointed with the points return so far. Will Farrell be at his sharpshooting best in Round Four, against France at Twickenham?

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