BREAKING: Owen Farrell banned for FOUR matches

Flyhalf Owen Farrell will miss the first two of England’s matches at next month’s Rugby World Cup in France.

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England coach Steve Borthwick’s first-choice flyhalf and captain was originally cleared to play last Tuesday when the verdict from his independent disciplinary hearing was announced after his red card in the victory over Wales.  

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Farrell was initially yellow-carded at Twickenham for crashing his shoulder into the head of the Wales substitute Taine Basham.

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That decision was upgraded to a red card on review by the TMO bunker, but a three-man all-Australian judiciary downgraded that sanction three days later to a yellow card, freeing Farrell to play.    

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However, World Rugby last Thursday elected to exercise its right of appeal which resulted in the case being re-heard on Tuesday, 22 August by a different judicial committee.

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The verdict has since emerged and Farrell has been banned for four matches – the final two games of England’s Summer Nations Series against Ireland and Fiji and the opening Rugby World Cup pool matches against Argentina and Japan.

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More to follow …