Credibility of system on line if Farrell avoids ban

THE new independent panel who will judge on Tuesday whether or not Owen Farrell should be banned following his sending off against Wales is in a no-win situation. Everyone has had their say in the media. The overwhelming consensus is that Farrell’s hit on Taine Basham was high and deserving of a red card.

After the first panel found mitigation in the tackle and downgraded the red to yellow —therefore judging Farrell shouldn’t be suspended — World Rugby had no choice but to step in.

There is no way World Rugby are going to get involved in this process and not say it should have been a red card. If they don’t — and agree the initial panel was right — it will make things 10 times worse. Farrell can expect a suspension. The big question is what will be the length of the ban?

Entry point for a contact with the head is six weeks. A player would normally be given the option to appeal, have his or her past record taken into account, and have the option of attending a course.

Farrell has had three previous bans for dangerous tackling and has already attended what many refer to as ‘tackle school’ so he is not in a great position. I think he’ll be banned for four to six games.

It might go to three, but I can’t see it being any less. Such a result would mean Farrell definitely missing England’s opening World Cup pool games in France.

The past week has been unprecedented when it comes to refereeing decisions and rugby’s disciplinary process. It should never have come to this. My view is that Farrell’s tackle on Basham was 100 per cent deserving of a red card. And I cannot believe that after everything that has gone on we saw an almost exact carbon-copy incident when Billy Vunipola was sent off against Ireland.

It’s hard to fathom that England’s players just don’t seem to learn. The way the

Farrell decision was made at Twickenham using the new bunker review system was perfect.

I had my doubts over the bunker system, but I worked with World Rugby when it was trialled at U-20 level in South Africa in the summer and was very impressed.

The bunker will be used at the World Cup and this is another reason why World Rugby had to step in on the Farrell incident. If they hadn’t, it would have removed all credibility to a system which is crucial to rugby going forwards.

The judicial panel which agreed with England and Farrell’s argument that there was mitigation for his tackle on Basham was made up of three Australians.

This could have been a reason why the panel decided the bunker decision to upgrade Farrell’s initial yellow to red was wrong. My experience has shown me that, generally, the view in the south is more forgiving to head contact.

Tuesday’s new three-person panel is made up of representatives from New Zealand, Singapore and Ireland — so there is more of a cross-hemisphere balance.