LONDON (Reuters) – Owen Farrell is free to play again after his sending off in England’s 19-17 win over Wales on Saturday was overturned, the RFU said on Tuesday.
The England captain was sent off after smashing his shoulder into the face of Wales forward Taine Basham in the sort of no-arms tackle that earned him a four-game ban earlier this season when playing for Saracens.
“After reviewing all the evidence … the Committee concluded that the Foul Play Review Officer was wrong, on the balance of probabilities, to upgrade the yellow card issued to the player to a red card,” the RFU said in a statement.
“Unlike the Foul Play Review Officer the Committee had the luxury of time to deliberate and consider, in private, the incident and the proper application of the Head Contact Process… On that basis, the Committee did not uphold the red card and the player is free to play again immediately.”
(Reporting by Aadi Nair in Bengaluru, editing by Mitch Phillips)
