England captain Owen Farrell could miss all of England’s Rugby World Cup pool stage matches through suspension after he was red-carded against Wales.
The flyhalf was given his marching orders in the 63rd minute of the clash at Twickenham on Saturday.
Despite his sending-off, England were able to claim a narrow 19-17 victory in their second World Cup warm-up fixture.
Owen Farrell’s red card against Wales
The game burst into life in the final quarter when Farrell was shown a yellow card for a dangerous tackle on replacement flanker Taine Basham.
His yellow-card was upgraded to a red by the bunker soon after.
Owen Farrell red carded for this tackle.
Player falling into the tackle but hard to argue with the decision.#ENGvWAL pic.twitter.com/IWZ7Mea9JH
— EK Rugby Analysis (@ek_rugby) August 12, 2023
It was a first-ever red card in a Test match for the flyhalf but it could still cost him and England dearly.
The England skipper will need some sort of mitigation and reduction in his suspension if he is to play any part in the Rugby World Cup pool stages.
The likely entry point for his suspension is set to be six matches, which would rule him out of the warm-up matches against Ireland and Fiji, as well as the pool-stage matches against Argentina, Japan, Chile and Samoa.
Previous bans
This would be the second time Farrell has been suspended this year for a dangerous tackle.
He was handed a four-week suspension earlier this year for a tackle on earlier this year for a dangerous challenge on Gloucester’s Jack Clement.
He returned in time for the Six Nations after completing a tackling course.
That was the third time in his career that he has been sidelined on disciplinary grounds for similar offences.
He will not be able to shave a week off that suspension with World Rugby’s coaching intervention program this time around, as he will not be eligible.
Commenting on the red card, England head coach Steve Borthwick told Prime Video: “Regarding Owen, we will wait and see what happens now. That’s always the case.”
READ MORE: England player ratings: Ben Earl stands tall in a disjointed win
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