A relieving, bonkers win for a depleted England may yet come at a serious cost. A red card for Owen Farrell has placed the fly-half’s participation in the opening World Cup pool fixture against Argentina in Marseille next month under a major cloud and his head coach, Steve Borthwick, could easily find himself without his talismanic captain.
Farrell was initially shown yellow for a 63rd-minute shoulder to the head of the Wales replacement Taine Basham only for the punishment to be upgraded by the television match official under the new “bunker” review system. England’s skipper could have few complaints and, given his previous disciplinary history, may struggle to find much sympathy at his hearing in the coming days.
