England Rugby captain Owen Farrell, whose red card against Wales was confirmed on appeal on Tuesday evening August 22 by the summer test match organizing committee, will miss the first two matches of the 2023 World Cup of the XV de la Rose, against Argentina then Japan.
The opener, finally suspended for four matches, was sent off on August 12 in the victory over Wales (19-17) after a dangerous tackle from third line Taine Basham.
On August 15, the Disciplinary Committee of the Organizing Committee of the Summer Nations Series, preparatory meetings for the World Cup organized in France from September 8 to October 28, canceled the red card of the English opener for which he risked up to six-week suspension.
The decision to send him off was made by the ‘bunker’, a referee who had the ability to view the footage in an isolated location during the match.
A committee, made up of Australian officials, overturned the exclusion and announced that the player was “free to play again immediately”. This decision had provoked an outcry from many rugby players, including several players from the Pacific Islands, such as the Tongan center of Toulouse Pita Ahki or the former Samoan international Daniel Leo.
Wrong decision
Two days later, World Rugby, the governing body of world rugby, announced that it was appealing this non-suspension. The Appeal Committee, meeting on Tuesday, “decided unanimously that during the first instance hearing, the Disciplinary Committee should have taken into account the player’s attempt to wrap his opponent in the tackle: but this point was not included in the initial decision. Following the review of this key element by the appeal committee, it was determined that the referee was correct in making the decision to show Farrell a red card, “she explains in a statement.
For the appeal committee, “the decision of the [first] disciplinary committee to transform the red card into a yellow card was manifestly wrong”. Given the player’s acceptance of his fault, the sanction was reduced to four games.
Owen Farrell did not take part in England’s defeat to Ireland on Saturday (29-10) in Dublin, which amounts to a first game suspension, so he will miss the next three games of the XV de la Rose: Saturday against Fiji at Twickenham, September 9 against Argentina in Marseille and September 17 against Japan in Nice, the latter two counting for Pool D of the 2023 World Cup.