England coach Jones backs Farrell to avoid punishment

TWICKENHAM (United Kingdom): England coach Eddie Jones backed Owen Farrell to avoid being cited for a dangerous tackle that could rule him out of next week’s clash with New Zealand as he turned on his critics following a nail-biting 12-11 win over South Africa on Saturday.

Farrell had kicked an England side missing several senior players into a one-point lead with his third successful penalty seven minutes from time at Twickenham.

But there was drama right at the end when, with 80 minutes on the clock, referee Angus Gardner consulted the television match official to see if fly-half Farrell had committed an illegal ‘noarms’ tackle on Springbok replacement Andre Esterhuizen.

The Australian official could have awarded South Africa a penalty which, had it gone over, would have seen the visitors snatch victory in the opening match of their European tour.

But Gardner, despite World Rugby’s current crackdown on dangerous play, eventually decided against penalising Farrell’s challenge, even though it appeared the England co-captain was leading with his shoulder.

That, however, may not be the end of the matter with citing commissioner Keith Brown — who is himself from New Zealand — having 24 hours from Saturday’s final whistle to decide if further disciplinary action should be taken.

Frustrated Springbok coach Rassie Erasmus was left to bemoan Farrell’s challenge, saying acidly: “If it was all legal — and I didn’t have a good look at the replay — we should start tackling like that.”

England ended a five-Test losing streak with a 25-10 victory over the Springboks last time out in Cape Town in June

But they now head into a clash against the All Blacks at Twickenham on November 10 buoyed by two successive wins.

England have not played reigning world champions New Zealand since 2014 and next week’s showdown has been eagerly anticipated ahead of next year’s World Cup in Japan.