LONDON (AP) — England captain Owen Farrell will miss the team's first two matches at the Rugby World Cup after the sport's global governing body was successful Tuesday with its appeal against the decision to overturn a red card he received against Wales in a warmup game.
Farrell was handed a four-match ban by an appeal committee.
The final two matches of that suspension cover the World Cup fixtures against Argentina on Sept. 9 and Japan on Sept. 17, England's hardest two games in Pool D.
Farrell was initially yellow-carded for the high, dangerous tackle on Wales flanker Taine Basham in England’s 19-17 win in the World Cup warmup game at Twickenham on Aug. 12. It was later upgraded to a red card after video review but an independent judicial committee said that decision was wrong, citing a “sudden and significant change in direction from the ball carrier” before Farrell attempted the tackle.
Amid widespread surprise and dismay at the decision of the disciplinary panel in an era when there's so much focus on head injuries in the game, World Rugby reviewed the committee’s full written decision and launched an appeal.
The appeal committee unanimously determined that in the original hearing, the disciplinary panel “should have considered the attempt of the player (Farrell) to wrap his opponent in the tackle. This point did not feature in the original decision.”
That meant Farrell's tackle was illegal and the decision to downgrade the red card to a yellow card was “manifestly wrong.”
The red card was therefore upheld.
He was given a six-match ban that was reduced to four because of Farrell's “acceptance of foul play, clear demonstration of remorse and his good character.”
Farrell will also be suspended for England's final warmup game, against Fiji at Twickenham on Saturday, and retrospectively was banned for the loss to Ireland in Dublin on Saturday, from which Farrell was stood down anyway.
He will be available again for England's final pool games at the World Cup against Chile and Samoa.
The World Cup in France starts on Sept. 8.
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