Owen Farrell boost as England star has red card overturned ahead of Rugby World Cup
Owen Farrell has had his red card overturned ahead of England's Rugby World Cup mission
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England star Owen Farrell will be free to play immediately at the Rugby World Cup this summer.
The captain had previously been expected to miss a portion of the tournament after his recent red card for a high tackle on Wales' Taine Basham.
Farrell had previously served a ban for a high tackle earlier this year.
But, fortunately for Steve Borthwick's side, the veteran is now free for selection right from the beginning of the competition after an appeal was successfully launched.
England star Owen Farrell had received a red card against Wales
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A statement from Six Nations Rugby said: "The Committee determined, when applying World Rugby’s Head Contact Process, that mitigation should be applied to the high degree of danger found by the Foul Play Review Officer.
"The Committee found that a late change in dynamics due to England #2’s [Jamie George's] interaction in the contact area brought about a sudden and significant change in direction from the ball carrier.
"In the Committee’s opinion, this mitigation was sufficient to bring the player’s act of foul play below the red card threshold."
Farrell had acknowledged he had committed an act of foul play.
But the 31-year-old was always adamant he should never have received a red card. Now, that decision has been overturned.
The statement continued: "The Committee believe it is important to record, that no criticism is made of the Foul Play Review Officer nor, would any be warranted.
"Unlike the Foul Play Review Officer the Committee had the luxury of time to deliberate and consider, in private, the incident and the proper application of the Head Contact Process.
"The Committee believe this is in contrast to the Foul Play Review Officer, who was required to make his decision in a matter of minutes without the benefit of all the additional material including hearing from the player and his legal representative.
"On that basis, the Committee did not uphold the red card and the player is free to play again immediately."
The Rugby World Cup kicks off next month, with England in action against Argentina on September 9 in their opening match.
They're then scheduled to face off against Japan on September 17, before ending the group stages with games against Chile and Samoa on September 23 and October 7.
Borthwick had previously said England would be able to cope without Farrell if the fly-half had to serve a ban.
“Once I have all the facts, I’ll deal with the situation,” he said after his side's match with Wales over the weekend.
“[George Ford] came on to the pitch and he played really well and you’d expect that – we’ve seen that before from George.
"I think we were blessed with three players we have in that position.
"Marcus [Smith], Owen and George, three world-class players, which I think will be the envy of a lot of countries around the world.
“I think they’ve all got multiple strengths.
"You saw George’s game management and the use of his kicking game. George’s distribution skills are very, very good.
"And you’ve got Marcus with his distribution, Marcus with his attacking kick game, Marcus with his running game and then you’ve got Owen, who we know so well at 10 or 12 so we’re blessed to have those options.”
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England boss Steve Borthwick is preparing for the Rugby World Cup
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He added: "Let me be clear, we train scenarios for having less players on our team, we train our scenarios regularly. I want 15 players on the pitch.”