Owen Farrell handed World Cup lifeline as new angle reveals his innocence
England captain Owen Farrell might have been handed a glimmer of hope at making his third World Cup after a new angle of his red card against Wales on Saturday has surfaced.
The flyhalf was red carded in the second half for a shoulder to the head of Wales Taine Basham, and at first it looked one of the simplest red cards referee Nika Amashukeli could ever give (although it did go to the bunker first). However, the angle directly from behind Basham is slightly encouraging for Farrell.
This new angle shows England hooker Jamie George push Basham from behind. There is a moment just before Farrell makes contact with Basham’s head where both of the flanker’s legs are off the ground and bent, clearly showing that he has lost control due to George’s push, which has in turn caused a slight change in height.
It might not be a lot, but it could be the saving grace for Farrell. The 31-year-old will still be banned, but this might be a mitigating factor that reduces the severity of the ban. The thing that does not work in Farrell’s favour is that he is a repeat offender. In fact, he has offended so much that he has spent more time in tackle school than he spent at normal school growing up.
Take a look at the angle:
Owen Farrell 🙈🦖 pic.twitter.com/UPe21A88KE
— RugbyLAD (@RugbyLAD7) August 12, 2023
Understandably, England head coach Steve Borthwick was reluctant to pass comment on the red card after the match, saying: “I think right now it would be wrong for me to comment upon an individual incident that is going to likely go through a disciplinary procedure.
“I know you wouldn’t expect me to comment on it if it is going to a disciplinary procedure. To be clear, what I will say is we are fully supportive of working on a player’s tackle. I will say that without any comment on an individual incident.”
