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PARIS - Critics say he's too slow and too old; his supporters believe his detractors are motivated by a sniffy contempt for the background from which he emerged.
Either way, Andy Farrell will have plenty to prove when England clash with bitter rivals Australia in the World Cup
quarter-finals in Marseille on Saturday.
"I just get on with playing the game and that's all I can do. If my contributions can lift the side, then I've played my part," said Farrell whose 500,000 pounds (1,018,000 US dollars) switch from Wigan to Saracens in 2005 raised eyebrows when a succession of injuries kept the former Great Britain skipper sidelined for the first year of his union deal.
Having been selected for Saturday's crunch clash, ahead of Olly Barkley and Mike Catt, centre Farrell will have plenty of support in the shape of full-back Jason Robinson who also left Wigan in 2000 to play union at Sale.
Robinson has been an unqualified union success scoring a memorable try in the 2003 World Cup final triumph against Australia.
"There's a lot of ignorance on both sides," said the 48-cap Robinson when asked to describe his conversion to union.
"When I played rugby league I was very biased against union because I didn't understand it. I used to call it kick-and-clap. The ball would be kicked by somebody and everyone would clap."
Robinson also rallied to Farrell's side.
"One of the hardest things for him at the moment is taking the knives out of his back," said Robinson.
Australia too have their share of league-to-union converts with many eyes trained on Berrick Barnes, the 21-year-old senasation who made his debut against Japan earlier in the tournament.
Barnes, with just three games under his belt, has eased comfortably into the gap left by injured playmaker Stephen Larkham.
The fly-half played rugby league with the Brisbane Broncos in 2005 at the age of 18 featuring in nine games before he switched to union with the Queensland Reds.
Like Farrell and Robinson, not everyone was convinced Barnes was making the right decision.
"He wanted to go play rugby," said Broncos coach Wayne Bennett.
"He would have stayed with us but he went to rugby to get it out of his system. He'll be back."
Teammate Lote Tuqiri, who has 27 tries in 57 Tests, including his team's only try in the 2003 final, is also a convert from Australian rugby league.
The 28-year-old Fiji-born flyer left the Broncos in 2002 to play union.
He is paid a rumoured 1.2 million Australian dollars (1,066,000 US) a season, a sum which dwarfed the 800,000 dollars (711,000 US) on the table from league side South Sydney Rabitohs, the club owned by Hollywood star Russell Crowe.
Tuqiri is never far from controversy.
He was banned for two Tests this year for missing a medical and remains under a midnight curfew after he and prop Matt Dunning went on a drinking binge following a pre-World Cup camp.
"It's been a tough season, but I've got to keep my head up," said Tuqiri who was his country's 43rd dual code international.
- AFP
