Owen Farrell could yet face a ban after World Rugby confirmed it would be appealing against the overturning of the England captain’s red card.
Farrell’s sending off against Wales at Twickenham last weekend was rescinded by a disciplinary panel on Tuesday, clearing the fly half to play as soon as this weekend against Ireland.
Farrell was found to have made direct contact to the head of Wales back row Taine Basham during the second half of the World Cup warm-up fixture, but the panel decided that the involvement of teammate Jamie George caused a “late change in dynamics” that dropped the incident down to a yellow card offence.
However World Rugby has now confirmed it will be challenging that decision, with a new disciplinary panel to be formed.
“World Rugby has today confirmed to the Rugby Football Union and Six Nations Rugby that it will exercise its right to appeal in regard to the Owen Farrell disciplinary decision following a careful review of the independent Judicial Committee’s full written decision received on 16 August,” a statement from the governing body said.
“World Rugby fully supports the important role that an independent disciplinary process plays in upholding the integrity and values of the sport, particularly regarding foul play involving head contact. Player welfare is the sport’s number one priority, and the Head Contact Process is central to that mission at the elite level of the sport.
“Having considered the full written decision, World Rugby considers an appeal to be warranted.”
Further details regarding the hearing, including panel appointments and a date, will be confirmed by Six Nations Rugby, who operate the Summer Nations Series.
World Rugby’s appeal also provided the full written judgement from Farrell’s first disciplinary hearing, which the Six Nations had declined to publish earlier in the week.
In it, the independent judicial committee (IJC) find that foul play review officer (FPRO), Brian MacNeice, was “in error by omitting to consider the late change in dynamics due to [Jamie George]’s interactions in the contact area with [Taine Basham]”.
There is no guarantee that the appeal succeeds, and the decision is expected to rest on whether Farrell is deemed to have been making a legal tackle attempt.
A player is entitled to mitigation only if they are making a genuine attempt to wrap the arms; the IJC on Tuesday decided that Farrell had been attempting a legal tackle, allowing it to downgrade the sanction from a red card.
Steve Borthwick is expected to leave his captain out of his starting side to face Ireland in Dublin this weekend when he names his 23 later on Thursday.
If the decision is overturned and the red card reinstated, any possible ban is likely to rule Farrell out of at least part of England’s World Cup campaign, which begins against Argentina on 9 September.
Borthwick’s side face Fiji next weekend in their final warm-up fixture.
