Owen Farrell red card reimposed after extra detail taken into account

Farrell, 31, caused Dragons flanker, Taine Basham, 23, to fail a head injury assessment after Wales launched a counter-attack.

Georgian referee Nika Amashukeli initially sent the Saracens fly-half to the sin bin pending a bunker review.

Farrell was later shown a red card but a disciplinary hearing overruled the bunker review which looked likely to let England’s captain lead Steve Borthwick’s side out for the opening Rugby World Cup games in France next month.

The hearing suggested England hooker Jamie George provided mitigation by tackling Basham before his Saracens teammate made contact.

However, the appeal committee concluded the original hearing had not considered Farrell’s failure to wrap his arms when attempting the tackle.

A disciplinary update from the Rugby Football Union said: “The Appeal Committee met on Tuesday 22, August and unanimously determined that in the original hearing the Disciplinary Committee should have considered the attempt of the player to wrap his opponent in the tackle.

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“This point did not feature in the original decision. The failure to attempt to wrap was judged to be an important element of the Foul Play Review Officer’s (FPRO) report and had led to an upgrading of the referee’s yellow card to a red card during the match.

“As this element did not feature in the original decision, the Appeal Committee decided it was in the interests of justice to hear the case afresh on that key point alone, which included hearing from the player.”

Farrell has been suspended for four matches following the appeal committee’s report.

He missed a clash against his father Andy Farrell’s Irish side in Dublin last weekend and will play no part in the final warm-up match against Fiji at Twickenham on Saturday.

Farrell will also miss England’s first Rugby World Cup match against Argentina in Marseille and the 2003 William Webb Ellis Trophy winners’ second game against Japan in Nice.

England, who lost the 2019 Rugby World Cup Final to South Africa 32-12, will have their talismanic captain back at the helm for matches against Samoa and Chile.

The Farrell tackle saga sparked outrage throughout the rugby world following the initial disciplinary hearing, with centurion referee Nigel Owens calling out the “illegal” charge.

Wales head coach Warren Gatland also wrote in The Telegraph: “Owen Farrell is facing a crossroads in his career.

“It feels like time is running out for him to fix his tackle technique because it could end up being really costly for him and for England.

“The problem is that at times he goes into contact too upright, and in reviewing his hit on Taine Basham on Saturday night, I have no doubt it was a red card.”

England’s 2003 Rugby World Cup winning coach Sir Clive Woodward also claimed Farrell’s eventual ban was the “correct outcome” as he slammed the process as “absolutely farcical”.

The RFU also approved a reduction in tackle height for the community game in England in January.

The decision was made in an attempt to improve player safety.

Laws around high tackles have also been tightened in the professional game.

Borthwick, who criticised World Rugby’s decision to appeal Farrell’s first hearing, faces another anxious wait over the fate of England’s only specialist Number 8 Billy Vunipola.

Vunipola, 30, received a red card during England’s 29-10 defeat to Ireland in Dublin on Saturday.

The Australian-born England back row forward could also miss several of England’s early Rugby World Cup clashes.

Vunipola’s verdict is expected later today, just 17 days before England’s match against Argentina.