Farrell gets off scot-free for his ‘tackle’

– Owen Farrell is available to lead England against world champions New Zealand next weekend after it was announced he would face no disciplinary action for a controversial tackle in the closing seconds of a tense 1211 win over the Springboks.

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 on Saturday.

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 flyhalf Farrell had committed an illegal “no-arms” 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 had led with his shoulder.

Citing commissioner Keith Brown had 24 hours from Saturday’s final whistle to decide if the challenge had warranted a red card, a move that would have led to a disciplinary hearing.

But a World Rugby spokesman told AFP via telephone that Farrell would not face disciplinary action.

Most pundits agreed that Farrell’s challenge was a yellow-card offence at worst, although plenty of observers felt Gardner should have awarded the Springboks a penalty at the very least.

“It’s hard to keep your arms round when someone’s running that hard but thankfully there was a bit of common sense,” Farrell said on Saturday.

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 all start tackling like that.” – AFP