Owen Farrell has been cleared to compete in the World Championship but will now have to appeal the decision. Photo: Getty Images/Andrew Kearns
World Rugby is appealing the controversial decision to lower Owen Farrell's red card against Wales, which could cast doubt on the England captain's readiness for the start of the World Cup next month.
The hearing of the appeal will be hosted by the Six Nations, with World Rugby representing their own legal team as appellants.
It is hoped that the hearing will take place before England's Dublin match on Saturday, in which Farrell will not be involved.< /p>
World Rugby says it has confirmed RFU and Six Nations Rugby's right to appeal after careful consideration of the full written decision of the Independent Judicial Committee received on Wednesday
“World Rugby fully supports the important role that an independent disciplinary process plays in upholding the integrity and values of the sport, especially with regard to head contact foul play,” it said in a statement. “Player welfare is the number one priority in this sport and the process of reaching out to leaders is central to this mission at the elite level of the sport.
“Having reviewed the full written decision, World Rugby believes an appeal is guaranteed. In accordance with the provisions set out in Regulation 17, an independent appeal committee will be appointed to resolve the issue at the earliest opportunity.”
More crashes for England
There was widespread condemnation of the decision not to sanction the England captain, who was shown a red card for a dangerous tackle on the head of Wales striker Thane Basham in the second half of England's victory. at Twickenham last Saturday.
The appeal would further derail England's preparations to face the world's No. 1 team, but if successful, Farrell could face a five or six week ban, depending on extenuating circumstances.
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The key to the appeal will be to establish whether errors were made in the initial disciplinary hearing, with an emphasis on the correctness of the application of mitigating measures when lowering the degree of injunction. World Rugby received a written decision on Wednesday and has 48 hours to decide what to do next.
Should World Rugby appeal against Owen Farrell's red card against Wales?
There are several precedents where World Rugby has intervened in disciplinary hearings, most recently when Joe Marler was charged with misconduct by the governing body in 2016 for making comments about Wales representative Samson Lee after the Six Nations decided take no action.
In a statement during the hearing, Farrell explained that he believed he should have been given a yellow card due to extenuating circumstances of George Basham's earlier capture attempt on Jamie before Farrell made contact.
Farrell, testifying, explained that he initially set himself up for a contact that would give him enough room to his right “to make a good [legal] takeover” and that he “didn't foresee and foresee that [Basham] and [ George] will collide with each other, causing [Basham] to be pushed sideways (across/diagonally) and towards him.”
Adding that Basham's sudden movement meant that Farrell “didn't have enough time and space to try and get your head out of the way”, Farrell said his head position was “a subconscious reaction to [Basham's] body moving through him.”
The panel noted that Farrell presented his testimony in a “balanced and thoughtful manner”. In their conclusions, they concluded that Farrell “clearly violated Rule 9.13 by making a dangerous tackle in an upright position” and performed a “reckless tackle” with a high degree of danger and sufficient force.
Discussing why the panel found there was mitigation, they explained that the rule violations review officer “mistaken to account for the late change in dynamics due to [George's] interaction”, leading to Basham's “sudden and significant change of direction”. and “refused [Farrell] both in time and space to adjust to avoid head contact.”
They added, “In our opinion, it would be an unreasonable burden for [Farrell] to expect that he foresees, foresees or predicts in the limited time available to him, this is a later change in dynamics.
Farrell has already been pulled out of the line of fire by head coach Steve Borthwick despite a Six Nations independent disciplinary hearing on Tuesday clearing him to play with immediate effect and George Ford due to start against Ireland in Dublin on Saturday.
< p> Borthwick faced an unenviable choice before choosing his team, given the uncertainty and given Farrell's emotional state and the attention he paid to the disciplinary committee hearings at the beginning of the training week, as well as the opportunity to distract himself from the team that his father, Andy, coaches.
England captain Owen Farrell talks to his father, Ireland coach Andy Farrell, following both sides' Six Nations match this year. Photo: Getty Images/Dan Mullan Farrell has no plans to play against Ireland. Shirt #10. Farrell was dropped from the squad.
It is thought that it would be prudent not to involve Farrell given the attention he has paid to the disciplinary committee hearings and the potential for distraction given that England are playing the No. 1 team in the world.
Courtney Lowes will captain against Ireland in Farrell's absence, replacing him after a red card from the England midfielder in the second half of the victory over Wales at Twickenham.
Farrell is likely to be devastated by the prospect of him missing the game against Ireland , which is trained by his father Andy.
The prospect of potentially missing out on what could be his last World Cup is believed to have led to a sleepless Saturday night following his red card, with sources suggesting that no one took the fallout from his tackle more seriously than the player himself. “He takes it very seriously,” one of the sources said. “He made a mistake and feels terrible about it. However, this was not intentional and he is more determined than ever to demonstrate his commitment to a safe but strong tackle.”
Any referee would have given Owen Farrell a red card, Test's official says
Some criticized the conclusion of the disciplinary hearing, but some also supported it. Eddie Jones, the former England manager, supported the decision to lower the red card, calling it “common sense”.
“Owen is an aggressive player,” Jones said. “Because everything drags on, the margin of error is so small that what might look like a bad capture could just be a small error of judgment. I'm glad they used common sense. We want the game to be safer, but we have to use common sense.
“I would never want a player to be banned from a World Cup unless it was against the rules of the game. was massively deliberate. In today's game, how often do you see it? This is an absolute rarity. For a game with physical contact, it's surprisingly clean. When players make head contact, it is usually due to an error in judgment rather than malice.
“When I was with the England team, Owen talked about his tackle technique and what he could do to make his tackle less sensitive to referee interference. Small errors possible.”
Ford: 'Just a rugby incident'
Ford, who made an impression during his semi-final cameo, helping England to an unlikely victory after they were eight points behind by just 12 players on the field called the decision on Farrell “brilliant news”.
“Obviously he is our captain and a brilliant player for us,” Ford said. “Now it's all over and we can go back to business as usual and do our best as a team of players to keep moving in the right direction.
“You just don't know where the outcome will be . stay until the end of the process. We, the players, understand the support we receive. We have KC [Richard Smith] doing a brilliant job, but there are a lot of pros and cons to whatever the circumstances are in the game.
“I would say that everything happens much faster on the field than with people in the stands or watching on TV. Again, I noticed that on the weekends you sit on the bench and watch the game, and you think you have a good view of what is happening, and then you find yourself in the middle, and the speed is 100 miles per hour from all sides. There are cases that will happen, and with Bash passing on Jamie and quickly getting into Owen's channeling, it would have happened a lot faster. So no, not a surprise. Just a rugby incident.”
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