RWC warmup - England v Wales
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Quite a good article rom Oliver Brown pointing out the future pitfalls in the Farrell Red Card rescinding.
"The long-form version of the ruling is needed urgently, if only to explain how the committee navigated a way past World Rugby’s decree that mitigation is irrelevant in the event of “always illegal” foul play. If the answers are inadequate, then both Six Nations and World Rugby need to appeal. For rugby’s sake, Farrell’s absolution cannot stand. The least that a man like (Steve) Thompson, who has revealed how his battle with dementia once led to him being placed on suicide watch, is owed is for the sport to act with conviction and consistency when it comes to players’ brains.
Farrell’s escape suggests that it is doing anything but. An alarming precedent has been set, one that you can fully expect to see invoked once the class-action lawsuits start rolling in. It is far from melodramatic to suggest that the children who idolise Farrell will also be highly confused by what they have seen, and that they will have all one question when their tackling is next criticised. “Owen did it, so why can’t I?”
Rugby must think hard about whether this is a future it is prepared to contemplate. Otherwise it will, quite frankly, reap what it sows.
Owen Farrell decision is horrendous – for the sake of rugby, he must be banned
With a mounting crisis over brain injuries, the overturning of England captain's red card seems like an unforgivable dereliction of duty
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The one thing that's been overlooked in this is how tactically astute and professional Farrell is
He recognised that Basham was the only Welsh player able to carry the ball across the gain line and set England on their heels
Farrell nullified Basham by any means necessary
If Basham had stayed on the pitch Wales would have cantered home
Once he left and didn't return because of HIA, Wales had no go forward despite the numerical advantage
Begrudgingly, you can't coach that
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@MiketheSnow said in RWC warmup - England v Wales:
The one thing that's been overlooked in this is how tactically astute and professional Farrell is
He recognised that Basham was the only Welsh player able to carry the ball across the gain line and set England on their heels
Farrell nullified Basham by any means necessary
If Basham had stayed on the pitch Wales would have cantered home
Once he left and didn't return because of HIA, Wales had no go forward despite the numerical advantage
Begrudgingly, you can't coach that
Not sure Owen is that cerebral
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Kinsella saying and Planet Rugby appearing to confirm World Rugby to appeal Farrell decision.
England captain Owen Farrell could still face Rugby World Cup ban
England captain Owen Farrell could still be banned for his tackle on Wales flanker Taine Basham in the Rugby World Cup warm-up match at Twickenham.
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@Victor-Meldrew absolute circus.
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Perhaps it will jolt World Rugby to address the mess and inconsistences and improve things. I don't think I've seen such genuine anger from players, ex-players, referees and serious commentators as I've seen on this one.
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Nigel Owens: Owen Farrell tackle was a red and rugby is in trouble if it's not
The legendary referee provides his expert analysis of the incident that has dominated headlines this week
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Yup, Owens is spot on here.
The whole business is a compete disgrace. Andy Farrell whinging about the effect on his family is bullshit IMO. Yes there has been an unedifying pile on and OF's taken a heap of crap from commentators. But it is 100% deserved, and 90% self-inflicted - first by his cynical & dangerous tackle, and then compounded by him and the RFU deciding to appeal, refusing to accept guilt, and paying a fucking KC to run rings around the panel. Anyone involved with that spineless disciplinary panel should be squirming right now, they got played, and hopefully it'll be put right on appeal.
The mitigation they came up with was nonsense, and as Nigel points out, even if there was any mitigation it can't be applied under the framework if the tackle was illegal from the start anyway.
