An already creaking England squad looked as though their World Cup hopes had taken a further blow in recent days, with Owen Farrell facing into a potentially costly suspension after his red card against Wales at the weekend.
Never one known to pull out of a potentially damaging tackle, the 31-year old was punished for a high hit on an opponent in the English victory on Saturday.
Owen Farrell Yellow Card 🟨
‘Bunker’ review system back into play.#ENGvWAL
Edit: Has been upgraded to red 🟥 pic.twitter.com/c26hwm9Skf— Darren (@SaffasRugby) August 12, 2023
It was expect that a ban as a result of this tackle could see the England star miss at least some of the upcoming World Cup in France, with some suggesting that he could even be banned for the entire tournament due to his past record in this area.
However, this will not be the case.
Rugby fans in disbelief as Owen Farrell avoids ban for Wales red card
It was announced this afternoon that Owen Farrell would not receive any form of ban after his red card was overturned by the independent Judicial Committee.
The decision makers said that there was enough mitigation in this incident to overturn the red card and allow the England captain to return to playing duties with immediate effect.
The player acknowledged that whilst he had committed an act of foul play, he denied that the act was worthy of a red card...
The Committee found that a late change in dynamics due to England #2’s interaction in the contact area brought about a sudden and significant change in direction from the ball carrier. In the Committee’s opinion, this mitigation was sufficient to bring the player’s act of foul play below the red car threshold.
The Committee believe it is important to record, that no criticism is made of the Foul Play Review Officer nor, would any be warranted. Unlike the Foul Play Review Officer the Committee had the luxury of time to deliberate and consider, in private, the incident and the proper application of the Head Contact Process.
The Committee believe this is in contrast to the Foul Play Review Officer, who was required to make his decision in a matter of minutes without the benefit of all the additional material including hearing from the player and his legal representative.
On that basis, the Committee did not uphold the red card and the player is free to play again immediately.
As a result of this decision, Owen Farrell will not be banned for any of England's upcoming World Cup fixture. In fact, he could return to the side as soon as this weekend's warmup game against Ireland at the Aviva Stadium.
This decision has been greeted with a general sense of disbelief among rugby supporters. Not only did the incident in question seems like a very straightforward red card decision, but Farrell's status as a repeat offender in this area made a harsh ban even more likely.
The Saracens man was punished for a similar incident as recently as January of this year after producing a high tackle in a club game. He was suspended for three matches on that occasion and forced to attend 'tackle school'.
As you you might imagine, the reaction to this decision has been a very interesting one.
I am at a complete loss as to how he’s got off scott free.
If you buy the voodoo about Jamie George’s magical intervention you still have to entirely ignore that Owen Farrell is
High
Shoulder
No attempt to wrap
I mean… https://t.co/PNE8j1sp3G— Andy McGeady (@andymcgeady) August 15, 2023
This is a joke.
World Rugby are changing rugby at the community level in the aim of "player safety".
Then they let a player off with an absolutely bullshit excuse that's designed purely to let Owen Farrell play at the world cup.
Player safety? What a load of bollocks. https://t.co/jkoJIcz5F3— Gregg 🏴 (@GreggC_CC) August 15, 2023
https://t.co/S2naF3316I pic.twitter.com/HwrcrBHESu
— Jamie Weir (@jamiecweir) August 15, 2023
Shocker. Disgraceful. https://t.co/qsVnFNQOJe
— E. Harvie Ward (@MingMizuno) August 15, 2023
https://t.co/XaEtPpmuM8 pic.twitter.com/5MbtR8boVy
— Jamie Phillips (@JNPhillips4) August 15, 2023
fucking disgrace 👍🏼 https://t.co/3cM2MTA0nB
— ⛳️🏌🏻 (@MarescaSZN) August 15, 2023
no ban for owen farrell????? pic.twitter.com/iMrGCX1dCR
— kevin (@KevBeirne) August 15, 2023
Owen Farrell: The Logan Roy of rugby.
— Thala Msutu (@ThalaMsutu77) August 15, 2023
The Owen Farrell red card overturned? That is one staggering joke of a decision. And I'm an England supporter
— Chris Rose 🇺🇦 (@keyserchris) August 15, 2023
This is just laughable. But at the same, not entirely surprising. One rule for Owen Farrell, one rule for everyone else… Very disappointing to see him treated with leniency just because of the upcoming World Cup. Do better. https://t.co/SxTnbARxXw
— Harri Burton (@Harri_Burton) August 15, 2023
Owen Farrell decision makes a mockery of the referees and safe play. Honestly ...
— Jayme (@JCAshy97) August 15, 2023
Live scenes of the forensic scrutiny the committee showed at Owen Farrell’s appeal. pic.twitter.com/ix33hm4wLQ
— Marc Webber (@marcwebber) August 15, 2023
Farrell gets no ban at all.
Rugby...a sport really tackling concussions. Honest.#OwenFarrell @WorldRugby pic.twitter.com/0ie6DkVSMM— James Stafford 🇺🇦 (@jpstafford) August 15, 2023
Owen Farrell managing to avoid any sort of ban for this incident is bizarre to say the least, especially when the sport has done so much to limit the amount of high tackles we see at the top level.
It would have been interesting to see if the same decision would have been made had a World Cup not been only a matter of weeks away.
In any case, England and their captain have certainly gotten away with one here.
SEE ALSO: Warren Gatland Takes Aim At His Welsh Star In Controversial Column
