Owen Farrell‘s red card from Saturday’s win against Wales has been overturned, clearing him to play from the start of the Rugby World Cup.
The shock verdict from Tuesday’s disciplinary hearing found that Jamie George had pushed Taine Basham into the path of Farrell’s shoulder, and therefore Farrell should never have received a red card in the first instance.
The statement read: “Owen Farrell appeared before an independent judicial committee via video link having received a red card for an act of foul play contrary to Law 9.13 (A player must not tackle an opponent early, late or dangerously.
“The independent judicial committee consisting of Adam Casselden SC – chair, John Langford and David Croft (all from Australia) heard the case, considering all the available evidence and submissions from the player and his representative.
“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 determined, when applying World Rugby‘s head contact process, that mitigation should be applied to the high degree of danger found by the foul play review officer.
“The committee found that a late change in dynamics due to England #2’s [Jamie George] 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 card threshold.
“On that basis, the committee did not uphold the red card and the player is free to play again immediately.”
The decision will come as a surprise to many, with little dispute against the initial ‘TMO Bunker’ call raised amongst analysts and fans, and even no public criticism of the decision from anyone involved in the England team.
It was widely expected that though the entry point for the offence was a six-week ban, Farrell may have been given some leniency by showing remorse and good conduct and received a ban of four or five weeks.
But this still would have meant he would have missed England’s World Cup opener against Argentina, and this verdict will provide a huge boost to the squad with their captain available as normal for this Saturday’s clash against Ireland.
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