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WORLD RUGBY HAS confirmed it will appeal the decision by an independent disciplinary panel to overturn Owen Farrell’s red card against Wales, meaning the England captain’s involvement in the World Cup has been sprung back into doubt.
Farrell was sent off for a high tackle on Wales back row Taine Basham following an off-pitch ‘bunker’ review of the incident during last weekend’s World Cup warm-up game.
The English out-half faced an independent disciplinary hearing on Tuesday, when it was expected he would be banned, but the all-Australian committee agreed with Farrell that the tackle had not warranted a red card.
That was because the committee felt there had been mitigation involved, specifically that England hooker Jamie George had made contact with Basham, causing a “sudden and significant” change in direction just before Farrell’s right shoulder hit Basham’s head.
However, World Rugby has now officially confirmed that it will appeal the independent committee’s decision to overturn Farrell’s red card, with a new hearing to be convened as soon as possible.
“World Rugby fully supports the important role that an independent disciplinary process plays in upholding the integrity and values of the sport, particularly regarding foul play involving head contact,” reads an official World Rugby statement.
“Player welfare is the sport’s number one priority, and the Head Contact Process is central to that mission at the elite level of the sport.
“Having considered the full written decision, World Rugby considers an appeal to be warranted.
“In line with provisions set out under Regulation 17, an independent Appeal Committee will be appointed to determine the matter at the earliest possible opportunity.
“Further details regarding the hearing, including appointments and date, will be confirmed by Six Nations Rugby.”
It remains to be seen whether World Rugby’s appeal is successful. If that proves to be the case and Farrell’s red card is restored, he is facing a ban that could see him missing out on England’s World Cup campaign.
Given his three previous bans for high tackles and the fact that he didn’t accept he deserved a red card at the first hearing, Farrell seems unlikely to receive strong mitigation it comes to sanctioning him. A possible six-week entry point could see Farrell missing England’s final two warm-up games against Ireland and Fiji, as well as their four pool games.
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As a contrast, our newly appointed Taoiseach has frequently disputed the correlation between poverty and ill health and premature mortality. Despite the fact that Veradker is a qualified medical practitioner, his political ideology that poverty is not a concern of government, blinds him to the hugely detrimental impact of poverty on human health.
Diets in poorer area plays a bugger role in life expectancy….
@Paul: When we see that obesity if a factor in First World “poverty” we should wake up and see that PC fake analyse is keeping the poor, poor. Certain political parties need to keep a pool of poor people as voters to get themselves elected and these are the real enemies of the poor.
The private practice model of GP healthcare is not financially viable in poorer areas. Timely Access to GPs is more restricted in the case of poorer people than for those who are more comfortably off.
@Jenny mcCarty: You can qualify that statement, I assuming.
@Tony Daly: quiet the opposite. Workers have to arrange time off work to visit GP and pay 50 to 65€ as they don’t have medical cards.
@Geraoid O’Helidhe: Great, all workers should have them and the public housing close to jobs if required.
Well done for highlighting health inequalities. Not new but larger ignored in ireland.
See the Black Report – very old doc now
http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.2190/XXMM-JMQU-2A7Y-HX1E?journalCode=joha
Also this affects everyone to some degree as there is a social gradient.
It’s all about choices….
@Gavin Huban: To an extent it is but you have less choices to make or certain choices have a higher cost as a proportion of your income. To eat healthier might be very difficult to afford or even get depending on where you live.
Slightly off topic but one glaring indictment of our health service is that even for private patients, waiting times are only “a matter of month”.
In this country we have now a new norm of having to wait months even privately except where you are a Minister or politician.
@Ger Healy: I completely agree. There is something to be said for a competitive American model of medicine where doctors decide to help people, make money because of their qualifications and expertise, and not be grossly overworked. When I have had to see a specialist, after waiting a very long time for the appointment, I wonder about the waiting list of people behind me and how that must affect the health of the doctor being put under so much pressure day in and day out.
@Ger Healy: The narrative that people are definitely corrupt if they are politicians is wrong and threatens democracy and is similar to the widely held belief that all media are liars.
Put it this way…………………….have you ever seen a bookie riding a bicycle?Go figure!
@Jenny mcCarty: Have you ever asked yourself why you need these gross simplifications, Jenny? I pay a mortgage and work, but I acknowledge this as good fortune, as well as the work ethic and attitude I was lucky enough to inherit – in the long run I’m far better off in all respects. Stop whining – you may need to see the world in such simple terms because you are frightened by its complex problems and just want it to go away. For you and all of us it will, eventually, and this will have been your life – is this the best you can do?
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