Farrell proves Manchester United's loss is England rugby's gain - Mirror.co.uk

Things could have been very different for England star Owen Farrell, who revealed that he could have pursued a career in football.

The 20-year-old kicked England to a 19-15 victory over Italy last weekend - but it was not Farrell's trusty right foot the Old Trafford scouts were interested in.

It was his hands.

Farrell trained with the Manchester United youth team as a goalkeeper.

Modestly, he insists he would never have made the grade and that his passion was always rugby league.

But Farrell's trial was cut short when his family moved south - and he left both sports behind for rugby union.

Now, the Saracens centre is preparing to win his third England cap against Wales Saturday, and his first at Twickenham.

"I played in goal at school for a couple of games and one of our teachers at school was a coach with Manchester United youth," Farrell said.

"I was 13 and I had a bit of a trial. I wouldn't say I was a brilliant goalkeeper, I'd say I was learning!

"I enjoyed going down there. I was a big lad when I was younger and I had decent hands from playing rugby - I was always a rugby player really."

Farrell is not the only budding footballer in England's rugby ranks - David Strettle was formerly on Manchester City's books and Danny Care spent time at Sheffield Wednesday.

Farrell, who also supports United, never played at Old Trafford - unlike his father and England ooach, Andy, who won Grand Finals there with Wigan.

But he will grace Twickenham's hallowed turf in next weekend's RBS6 Nations clash with Wales.

It was at Twickenham last May that Farrell confirmed his star potential when he guided Saracens to the Aviva Premiership title with a victory over Leicester.

"It will be very exciting to walk out at Twickenham in an England shirt. It's what every lad playing rugby dreams of," Farrell said.

Farrell made an assured Test debut against Scotland and last week, he kicked all five of his attempts at goal as England battled to a 19-15 win against Italy in the snow.

Even with Manu Tuilagi now available, it seems unlikely that interim coach Stuart Lancaster will break up the all-Saracens midfield of Charlie Hodgson, Farrell and Brad Barritt for the match against Triple Crown-chasing Wales.

"It's been really exciting. It was a step into the unknown but to get two wins has been brilliant - and the most exciting thing is we have a long way to go, me personally as well," Farrell said.

"The way we played against Italy in the second half, we created a lot of opportunities. We pulled them about at times and it was a glimpse of what we can do.

"We are going to look forward to the challenge of facing Wales. They are a brilliant team and they played well in the last couple of games.

"Their centres (Jamie Roberts and Jonathan Davies) are brilliant players. They are both big strong men and I am looking forward to the challenge."