Borthwick 'to wait and see' if red-card Farrell misses World Cup start / Photo: Ben Stansall - AFP
Borthwick 'to wait and see' if red-card Farrell misses World Cup start
England captain Owen Farrell seems set to miss the start of the Rugby World Cup after being sent off in a 19-17 warm-up win over Wales at Twickenham on Saturday, although coach Steve Borthwick cautioned against pre-empting the disciplinary process.
Fly-half Farrell's yellow card for a shoulder-led tackle to the head of Wales replacement Taine Basham in the final quarter was soon upgraded to a red by the newly-introduced bunker review system.
And that left England down to 12 men following the yellow cards already shown to Ellis Genge and Freddie Steward.
Despite that handicap, and falling 17-9 behind, England still won after lock Maro Itoje was driven over for a converted try and replacement George Ford kicked a late penalty.
But any joy among England fans at their side's resilience would have been offset by Farrell's indiscipline and another lacklustre showing by their backs following last week's 20-9 warm-up loss to Wales in Cardiff.
England could now be without Farrell for their World Cup opener against Argentina in Marseille on September 9, with the 31-year-old's availability for the rest of the pool phase set to be decided at a disciplinary hearing next week.
Any suspension would likely include 2019 losing finalists England's remaining warm-up games against Ireland and Fiji.
Scotland's Zander Fagerson is set to be available for his country's World Cup opener after the prop effectively had a game knocked off his ban by agreeing to go to a World Rugby 'tackle school' following a red card for a high tackle on France's Pierre Bourgarit last week.
However, that does not appear to be an option for Farrell.
It was only in January that Farrell had a ban reduced to three games for attending World Rugby's coaching intervention programme -- the official name for 'tackle school'.
"I'll wait and see what comes of the disciplinary process," Borthwick told a post-match press conference.
"Right now it would be wrong for me to comment on an individual incident that would likely go through a disciplinary procedure. I'll deal with the facts of the situation."
Wales coach Warren Gatland said the officials had made the correct call in upgrading Farrell's yellow card, with Basham failing a head injury assessment as a result of the tackle.
"It was the right decision on the day," he said.
"Hopefully for Owen's sake he doesn't get too long a ban, you need someone like him in the game."
The New Zealander added: "He'd be a big loss to England if he does have a lengthy ban. Given his previous I'm not too sure what's going to happen with that, fingers crossed it's not long for him."
A.Gray--CT
