DEBATE RAGES ON about the Owen Farrell disciplinary decision.
The England captain had his red card for a high tackle against Wales overturned by an independent committee at a hearing yesterday, meaning Farrell is available for the World Cup.
The decision has been met with disagreement in many quarters, including from former Ireland and Melbourne Rebels performance analyst Eoin Toolan on today’s Rugby Weekly Extra, a podcast for subscribers to The 42.
“I’m confused along with the rest of the global rugby community, I think,” said Toolan.
“We have flagged a couple of times on the pod about the disciplinary process not being fit for purpose and I think this is a further example of that.
“There’s a disconnect between the independent committee and the shape of the game that World Rugby, as custodians of the game, are trying to shape. When you bring in the legal expertise and start to analyse the wording, pick apart the intricacies of the laws, you can potentially get to an outcome like this.
“But anyone who has seen the incident and understands how the shape of the game has developed over the last 12 to 18 months, it’s completely abhorrent with that direction.
“Let’s go through the facts. The key part has been the mitigation due to the sudden change in movement of Basham due to the George push but for me, it’s so subtle, that late moment. Basham is fending with his left arm anyway, so his natural movement is to the right.
“For me, mitigation is irrelevant because it’s an act of foul play from Farrell by tucking his right elbow, no attempt to wrap with his right arm, and makes contact with Basham’s head.
“For me, mitigation is actually irrelevant and it’s a surprise that mitigation has got Farrell off the hook. It’s a really bad-looking incident. There’s no drop in tackle height from Farrell, which leaves himself open to the red card ruling. There’s no dip at the hips, there’s no intent to tackle low.
“Yes, rugby is about a contest for possession, he’s trying to target the ball, which we know there’s a history of this with Owen Farrell, but if he gets it wrong, he’s got to accept the consequences. For me, it’s a clear and obvious red card.
“The bunker review system has worked perfectly in this instance, the foul play review officer has taken five minutes to reach this verdict, but now this decision casts a huge shadow over the game heading into what is possibly the biggest World Cup of all time in just under four weeks.”
Farrell has had some public support from the likes of Australia head coach Eddie Jones, formerly his England boss, and France defence coach Shaun Edwards.
However, Toolan believes that World Rugby should appeal the disciplinary decision.
“I think they will. Everything I’m hearing is that there is a need to do it,” said Toolan.
They’re trying to take the game in a certain direction and this just flies in the face of that.
“The other interesting point at play here is that it was an all-Southern Hemisphere review committee and I know there was a huge amount of frustration from the Southern Hemisphere that the 20-minute red card didn’t get over the line in time for the World Cup. They were firm advocates of that.
“There potentially is a differing of views from the south to the north. It’s such a jarring thing to think that World Rugby are going to contest a decision by an independent committee and why World Rugby just don’t have complete control of the disciplinary process.”
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