England 25 Wales 28 RWC 2015: Owen Farrell backed himself to land last-minute penalty despite decision to go for try
England turned down the chance to draw the match only to lose to Wales to leave their World Cup hopes hanging by a thread
England fly-half Owen Farrell would have backed himself to kick the draw-salvaging penalty in the closing moments of Saturday's 28-25 World Cup defeat by Wales.
Captain Chris Robshaw opted to go for touch to set up an attacking line-out in the 78th minute instead of giving Farrell, who had kicked flawlessly all night and finished with a 20-point haul, the shot at goal.
Robshaw suggested that had the penalty not been close to the touchline, he might have made a different decision. Farrell agreed with the call but believes he would have hit the mark had he been given the chance.
A draw against a heavyweight rival in a ferociously competitive Pool A that also includes Australia might ultimately prove the difference between a group exit and a place in the quarter-finals.
"As a kicker, if the decision as a group was to go for goal, then obviously you back yourself - that's why you do the job," Farrell said.
"We believed that we could win the game by doing that. We backed ourselves to score the try there and unfortunately it didn't work out.
"There were a couple of us talking and there were lads around us. We all bought into the decision.
"If doesn't work out you'll get criticised. It's something to jump on. We wanted to go and win the game and back ourselves to do that.
"It was mentioned that it was from the touchline, but we backed ourselves to win the game.
"It's not worked out this time, but if we'd got the match-winning try everyone would have praised the decision."
When asked if he would have opted for the kick had it been in front of the posts, Farrell said: "Yeah. It's a risk-reward-type thing."
PA
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