World Rugby urged to intervene after Owen Farrell red card overturned
Farrell was sent off in Saturday’s 19-17 win against Wales after his yellow card was upgraded to a red by the bunker review system.
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.World Rugby has come under pressure to act after Owen Farrell’s red card against Wales was overturned in a decision that has caused uproar across the game.
Farrell was sent off in the second half of Saturday’s 19-17 victory at Twickenham after his yellow card for a shoulder-led tackle to the head of Taine Basham was upgraded to a red by the bunker review system.
While the England captain was expected to face a ban that would rule him out of the start of the World Cup, a disciplinary hearing instead concluded that the offence was worthy of a sin-binning only, clearing him to play.
Six Nations, who oversee the warm-up fixtures, have a policy of not publishing written judgements, but are facing calls to make the detailed reasoning behind the independent panel’s decision public.
They have the power to appeal the verdict and so do World Rugby, who will examine the report before making a decision.
Progressive Rugby, a player welfare lobby group, believe the sport’s global governing body must intervene.
“World Rugby must emerge from its corporate bubble of stakeholder management and delegated responsibility to bare its teeth,” Progressive Rugby said on Twitter.
“For it to demonstrate it WON’T stand still on player welfare, that it IS the game’s number one priority and that they won’t tolerate being undermined.”
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments