Teenage kicks for Farrell, an unlikely Saracens hero

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Green grass, a tee, the ball placed on it with the sponsors' logo and stitching just so; a kick to win a Premiership semi-final. And dad standing behind you, about 10 feet away. Extraordinary and ho-hum, wrapped up in one. Owen Farrell laughs now at the TV pictures zooming in on his face, contorted in the moment of exultation when the ball flew through the posts, more or less confirming Saracens' place at Twickenham next week. Any advice from Farrell Snr? "He just handed me the tee and said 'stay calm'. But I was telling myself to do that anyway."

No conversation with the 19-year-old Farrell, Saracens' fly-half and unexpected hero of their 12-match winning streak, goes for long without mentioning Andy, the legend of rugby league who switched to union, played for England and is now Sarries' head coach. An Old Man of Steel, you might say. "I realise that no one else has got their dad on the pitch or on the touchline while they're playing," says Owen, who began the season on loan at Bedford. "But he's not my dad at that point. He treats me exactly the same as anyone else, just doing his job as a coach. And I guess I'm just trying to do mine."

That job of the pivotal position in Saracens' bid to go one better than last year's losing final came about through a combination of Glen Jackson leaving last summer, Derick Hougaard getting injured in October and the full-back Alex Goode not quite grasping the No 10 nettle.

Farrell, with a handful of first-team appearances behind him, had a background as a big-kicking inside centre, gradually weaned on to union from playing league as a kid in Wigan by his Hertfordshire school, Sarries' academy and the England Under-16s and 18s.

He has impressed with his calm authority, swiping boot and, perhaps most importantly, suitability to Saracens' style. So much so that Austin Healey, the former England back who is close to the national manager Martin Johnson, has tipped the fresh-faced lad who still lives at home in Hertfordshire with his mum, dad and two sisters, to make this autumn's World Cup squad as the third fly-half.

"I've got massively lucky this year," says Farrell. "I didn't know if I was ready. I was always confident but you never actually know until you get out there." Was there an incident or a match that knocked his confidence? "Not really. Playing Leinster in Dublin was big for me, playing opposite Jonny Sexton, the way he controlled the game, the way they were ruthless. It wasn't that I was glad I got through it – I learnt a lot that game. We've played Leicester at Welford Road and Northampton at Franklin's Gardens and got wins. This team has got the ability to compete against anybody on the day."

Last Sunday's home semi-final with Gloucester began with Richard Wigglesworth and Goode each missing a kick before Farrell took over. He missed four but landed four; the last of them for a 12-10 lead – and that screwed-up face – with three minutes left. He had just had a drop-goal attempt charged down that led to a Gloucester try but he did not sidestep the responsibility. "I knew what the team was like," he says. "I knew we would hold out for the rest of the game."

Gloucester's Eliota Fuimaono-Sapolu used Twitter to deride Saracens for "boring rugby". Farrell does not Tweet or spend hours on Facebook; he has "phases" when he likes to strum a guitar and is a summer golfer, though it will have to wait in June when he is with England's Under-20s at the World Championship in Italy.

He is doing a "couple of days a week" for a business degree, and he had just been to see the latest Pirates of the Caribbean. "It was a bit long. I was a bit agitated by the end of it."

To the specific "boring" charge, Farrell says: "I think we're playing the right way. We're not a team that wants to kick the ball all the time. We want to play as much as we can, but we have to do that off good ball. A mistake in these tight games can mean you lose the ball for 10 minutes. People forget we scored five tries against Gloucester the previous time we played them. Last week we spent a lot of time in their half and got penalties instead."

Barking orders to gnarled 30-somethings in the pack is no problem. "He has a big mouth," says Andy, "and he's not scared of pushing people around. I suppose that's the way us Wiganers have always been. He's got a will to succeed and hopefully this is just the start."

Owen has never played at Twickenham, and says: "I'm looking forward to walking out in front of the biggest crowd I've played in front of. [But] it's still a rugby pitch; two sets of posts and touchlines."

Does he know his dad once kicked the winning penalty in a Super League Grand Final? "1998," he replies immediately. And the same could happen for him next Saturday? "Let's hope it does," says the teenaged son of the Old Man of Steel, with another laugh.