Nigel Owens has weighed in on the tackle that led to Owen Farrell’s dismissal against Wales, and rescinded red card, as well as the final outcome for the England captain.
The rugby world was stunned on Tuesday when an independent disciplinary panel overturned Farrell’s red card for a dangerous hit on Taine Basham during a World Cup warm-up last week.
Reports emerged on Wednesday that World Rugby would appeal the decision, and the game’s governing body made its intent official on Thursday.
Ireland coach Andy Farrell slammed much of the commentary surrounding son Owen by saying “the circus that’s gone on, in and around all of this, is absolutely disgusting”, while England boss Steve Borthwick believes the attacks on his skipper’s character are “personal” and “just wrong”.
ALSO: Kick Farrell out of World Cup – Kolisi
Writing for Wales Online, former referee Owens provided his expert analysis of the incident, and the Welshman argues that reason, not emotion, must govern the decision that could see Farrell miss the start of the World Cup.
“Owen Farrell is a great player who I have a huge amount of respect for. But he has a history of making this kind of tackle, he’s been punished before and perhaps got away with a couple too,” he writes. “So there’s a lot of emotion around the player, but as a referee we’ve got to strip that away and look at the facts.
“Do we have foul play? Yes, we do. Do we have contact with the head? Yes, we do. Do we have a high degree of danger? Yes, we certainly do. Do we have mitigation? In my view, no we don’t. I don’t think there was any late change from Basham which Farrell could not adjust to, he was the only player contributing to the action of the tackle. And when a player’s action is always illegal, then mitigation plays no part in the process.
“The key thing about mitigation here is that Farrell’s actions were always illegal. No matter what happened, he was always leading with the shoulder and not making an attempt to wrap for a legal tackle – so mitigation does not and should not play a part in the decision.
“For me, it’s a red card and whatever the judicial outcome may be, it still has to be a red card.”
Photo: Ashley Western/MB Media/Getty Images