Owen Farrell has admitted he “made a mistake” with the dangerous tackle that led to his red card against Wales last month, conceding he is gutted to be banned for the start of England’s World Cup campaign.
Addressing his sending off for his tackle on the Wales back-row Taine Basham for the first time, the England captain held his hands up and declined the opportunity to criticise the disciplinary process, having initially been cleared at his first hearing, only for World Rugby to appeal against that decision.
Farrell will miss England’s tournament opener against Argentina in Marseille on Saturday as well as their second match against Japan eight days later, having also missed the warm-up matches against Ireland and Fiji. “I made a mistake and I got banned for it in the end,” said Farrell. “I am not going to sit here and moan about it now, I am excited for this World Cup to start, I am excited to see what this team can do and I look forward to being available again. I knew when it came on the big screen. It is what it is. I’ve been banned, I accept that I’ve been banned. I’m gutted not to be playing but I’m trying to do everything I can for this team.”
Farrell is serving his fourth suspension for high tackles, raising further questions about his technique. He was banned for a similar tackle on Gloucester’s Jack Clement shortly before the start of this year’s Six Nations and at the time England’s defence coach, Kevin Sinfield, said that Farrell “fully accepts he needs to change [his tackle technique] and is willing to work extremely hard at it”.
Asked if he was working on that part of his game following his latest indiscretion, Farrell said: “We’re always trying to get better in every area of the game. Obviously the defence and the tackle areas are part of that. I don’t want to be in that situation again, I know that, but mistakes happen. I don’t want to sit here and be talking about that at the minute, I want to talk about what the team’s got coming up which is a massive game on Saturday in Marseille.”
Farrell also brushed off claims from the former England fly-half Danny Cipriani that he was part of a “mafia” that ran the team in the buildup to the 2015 World Cup. In his new book, Who Am I?, which is being serialised by The Times, Cipriani claimed that Farrell along with current squad members George Ford, Dan Cole and Ben Youngs were part of a “clique” who exerted influence over the team. “I’ve seen what you’re talking about,” said Farrell. “I don’t even know what to say to be honest. I know Danny’s got a book coming out so hopefully that goes well for him.”
