He was desperate to make the tackle says McCall

the turf with his head in his hands long before referee Christophe Ridley produced the inevitable red card.

To his credit, Farrell waited on the touchline to apologise and shake hands with Atkinson.

Mark McCall, the Saracens director of rugby, accepting the inevitable suspension, said: “I saw it but haven’t yet seen it again on video.

“He was chasing his own kick, was desperate to make a tackle and clearly got it wrong.

“It is what it is – he could easily have been out of the game for another reason like an injury and he missed our last European quarter-final for the birth of his child. We have got plenty of good backs at the club so we will just rearrange our back line a little bit and get on with it.”

Farrell’s tackling technique has come under scrutiny previously and McCall said: “He looks at every part of his game very hard and there has been a big improvement in that area. It’s a real shame.”

McCall is now likely to switch Alex Goode, who took over Farrell’s kicking duties on his 300th Saracens appearance in yesterday’s 28-18 home defeat by Wasps, to fly-half or hand the No.10 shirt to youngster Manu Vunipola for the trip to Dublin.

Wasps boss Lee Blackett had sympathy for Farrell’s plight. He said: “You know

Owen – he’s a physical player, he didn’t mean it. He got this one wrong.

“We know Owen is not that type of player. He plays on the edge but genuinely never goes over that edge. He got this slightly wrong.”

Atkinson was treated on the pitch for several minutes before being led off but Blacket added: “He seems alright.”