Owen Farrell’s teammate makes major radio slip-up after red card is overturned
The decision to overturn Owen Farrell’s red card from the weekend is so gobsmackingly surprising that even his England teammates were not even able to hide their shock.
An independent disciplinary panel decided on Tuesday that Farrell’s high tackle on Wales’ Taine Basham at Twickenham was mitigated by the fact that the flanker was pushed from behind by England’s Jamie George. Though that is the reason, it is not one that has been easily swallowed by the rugby fandom.
But even the England squad seem slightly surprised by the decision, or at least that was the impression George Ford gave when joining BBC Radio. The flyhalf was questioned about the decision on air, and accidentally said more than he would have wanted.
He said: “It’s great for us in terms of having our captain and leader back in, and getting away with… obviously going through the process and cracking on as normal.”
George Ford’s “getting away with” slip-up is here: https://t.co/p4F5pGD3UM pic.twitter.com/60nThjCWGO
— Jamie Phillips (@JNPhillips4) August 15, 2023
Ford would not be the only one who thinks Farrell “got away with” something, although this is obviously just a poor choice of words by the Sale Sharks No10 rather than him thinking that Farrell should have been found guilty.
Meanwhile, the one person who might actually be slightly disappointed by the decision is Ford himself, as he would have been the candidate to step up and fill the No10 jersey had Farrell been banned. Ford deputised for Farrell for the final 20 minutes at Twickenham on Saturday and guided England to a crucial win despite being down to 12 men at one point.
England are set to play Ireland this Saturday in Dublin, and head coach Steve Borthwick will have his full compliment of flyhalves to choose from. We all now wait to see who he chooses after his captain “got away with” it this week.
