Owen Farrell has been cited for a dangerous tackle in Saracens’ last-gasp victory over Gloucester on Friday and faces the prospect of missing the start of England’s Six Nations campaign.
Farrell will learn his fate at a disciplinary hearing on Tuesday that threatens to significantly disrupt Steve Borthwick’s plans for his first campaign as England head coach, given the Saracens playmaker is lined up to be a key part of his side and a leading contender for the captaincy. Both Marcus Smith and George Ford are due to return from injury in the coming weeks but both outhalves would go into the Six Nations short on game time, handing a considerable headache to Borthwick if Farrell is forced to miss the start of the championship. England begin their campaign against Scotland at Twickenham on February 4th.
The incident occurred in the 75th minute of Saracens’ victory with Farrell making direct contact with Jack Clement’s head with a leading shoulder. The tackle went unpunished at the time before Farrell went on to kick the winning drop-goal, leaving Gloucester supporters incensed and adamant he should not have been on the field to make such a telling contribution.
If Farrell is found guilty he can expect a mid-range ban of six weeks given the nature of the offence. He may expect some mitigation but 50 per cent seems implausible considering he was found guilty of a top-end dangerous tackle on Charlie Atkinson in September 2020 and ended up serving a five-week suspension.
If a six-week ban is reduced to four in mitigation Farrell would be able to trim a further week off by attending “tackle school” – World Rugby’s coaching intervention programme. If that materialises, it only complicates the situation over Farrell’s availability for the Calcutta Cup, however.
If he is, in effect, banned for three matches that would include Saracens’ forthcoming Champions Cup double-header against Lyon (January 14th) and Edinburgh (January 22nd) as well as the Premiership fixture against Bristol on January 28th. All players named in Borthwick’s Six Nations squad next Monday will be unavailable for their clubs that weekend, however, suggesting that if Farrell is picked by England, the Bristol fixture should not count towards his ban and the third match he misses should instead be against Scotland.
The most recent precedent is a two-week ban served by Kyle Sinckler two years ago. The panel determined that though he was an international player the Six Nations squad had not yet been announced therefore his ban should apply to Bristol fixtures. He ended up missing Bristol’s match against Bath the weekend before the Six Nations began as well as England’s championship opener against Scotland. Crucially, however, he was not picked in Eddie Jones’s initial Six Nations squad, thereby avoiding accusations that he would have missed the Bath match anyway because he was training with England. - Guardian
