FARRELL HIT BY A HORROR TACKLE
ENGLAND captain Owen Farrell was lucky to avoid serious injury after being the victim of a shocking tackle that resulted in the first red card of the World Cup. Farrell was on the receiving end of a thunderous hit from USA flanker John Quill, who flattened England’s indispensable centre in a comfortable 45-7 win for Eddie Jones’s men. England’s Piers Francis was also caught up in the high-tackle storm that has overshadowed the opening week of this
World Cup. Centre Francis is sweating after clobbering America’s Will Hooley in the first minute. ‘I am going to leave it to the judiciary,’ said England coach Jones. Team doctors did not see any reason to bring off Farrell for a head injury assessment. ‘We have all the medical staff looking for that out there,’ explained Jones. ‘That’s what they get paid to do. Owen is fine. Someone is going to barbecue part of Owen’s nose! ‘I think someone found a little bit. ‘He is missing part of his nose which is unfortunate but he is married with a child, so he is going to be OK!’ Officials now have 36 hours to decide whether Francis (right) faces a hearing, after he wiped out USA full-back Hooley in the first play of the game. When shown a replay, USA coach Gary Gold suggested that his team could issue a formal complaint. ‘If there’s contact to the head then it must be reviewed,’ said Gold. The spotlight is firmly on the officiating of such high tackles after World Rugby this week released a remarkable statement criticising the standard of refereeing. Australia winger Reece Hodge received a three-match ban for a no-arms hit that went unpunished during the victory over Fiji. Jones, however, insisted that he did not need to address the situation with his players before the match. ‘I don’t speak to the players about tackling high because they know where to tackle,’ he said. ‘People make mistakes. People always make mistakes. We play a tough, physical game and we go out hitting people as hard as we can. We want to do it legally but players make mistakes. I am going to leave that to the judiciary. That is the process. If you don’t understand that, I am sorry. I can’t say any more. You create your own headlines. I am a rugby coach.’ With Farrell given the all-clear, and Mako Vunipola and Jack Nowell set to return, Jones now hopes to go into next week’s Test against Argentina with a clean bill of health. ‘We’ve got all the points we can get from the first two games and we’ve got a great for and against,’ said Jones. ‘And we’ve got no injuries. It’s remarkable. ‘We could conceivably have 31 players available to select next week.’