Owen Farrell’s hopes of appearing in England’s Six Nations opener against Scotland have been boosted after he was banned for just three weeks for a dangerous tackle provided he attends tackle school.
Farrell was found guilty of a dangerous tackle on Gloucester’s Jack Clement in Saracens’ narrow victory last Friday and initially awarded a six-week mid-range ban. That was reduced to four weeks on mitigation – he was not awarded the full amount due to a five-week suspension for a dangerous tackle in September 2020 – and will be reduced by a further week provided he attends World Rugby’s coaching intervention programme unofficially known as “tackle school”.
While Farrell is ordinarily a shoo-in to be named in Steve Borthwick’s first England squad next week – and quite possibly captain – the disciplinary panel determined that because the squad has not yet been named, the ban should be meted out in club matches. In essence, the panel decided it was not their job to speculate on whether Farrell would be selected.
Borthwick has, however, been dealt an injury blow with the Sale flanker Tom Curry set to miss England’s first two Six Nations games. Curry, who has won 45 caps and skippered England for the first time in last season’s Six Nations opener against Scotland, was hurt during Sale’s Premiership victory over Harlequins on Sunday. England’s new head coach is already without the Exeter hooker Luke Cowan-Dickie for at least the start of the tournament after he suffered an ankle injury last weekend.
Farrell’s ban, meanwhile, covers Saracens’ forthcoming Champions Cup double header against Lyon as well their Premiership fixture against Bristol on January 28th. Players selected in Borthwick’s Six Nations squad would not be available for their clubs on that last weekend of January, however, raising serious questions as to whether the Bristol fixture constitutes a “meaningful” match missed.
The panel did suggest that if Farrell is selected by Borthwick next week, his list of matches missed could be altered to include England’s match against Scotland on February 4th given it is hard to argue Farrell would be missing Saracens’ fixture against Bristol when he is in England camp anyway.
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It is understood, however, that the English RFU considers Farrell available to be selected next Monday as well as the Scotland fixture because, in theory, he could be released from England’s training camp for the Bristol fixture despite the fact that even if he were not banned there is, in reality, no chance of that happening.
Whether the panel agrees is another matter entirely and if Farrell plays a full part in England’s preparations as well as the Scotland fixture – the RFU, and Borthwick, would be open to widespread criticism. It could be avoided, however, if the new head coach omits Farrell next week, he misses training before January 28th and joins up with the squad at the start of the Scotland week.
If so, Borthwick would at least have Farrell available for the Calcutta Cup but it would be significant disruption given he was also forced to miss England’s Jersey camp with a concussion before their autumn internationals campaign began with a defeat by Argentina. All the more so given Marcus Smith and George Ford have been sidelined through injury since November and June, respectively.
The panel’s written judgment said: “Should there be a change of circumstances, then it will be the responsibility of the parties to consider the position and to ensure that the sanction imposed by this panel remains meaningful. If necessary, the player’s free to play date will be amended to ensure the sanction remains meaningful.”
If the lingering uncertainty leaves a sour taste it is worth bearing in mind that it is not the responsibility of the disciplinary panel to pre-empt squad announcements – as much as it can be said with certainty that Farrell would be selected by England if available.
The most recent precedent is a two-week ban served by Kyle Sinckler two years ago. The panel determined that though he was an international player the Six Nations squad had not yet been announced and so his ban should apply to Bristol fixtures.
He ended up missing Bristol’s match against Bath the weekend before the Six Nations began as well as that against Sale on the same weekend as England’s championship opener against Scotland. Crucially, however, he was not picked in Eddie Jones’s initial Six Nations squad and only added once his ban had expired. – Guardian
