Nigel Owens has weighed in on the tackle that led to Owen Farrell’s dismissal against Wales, and rescinded red card, as well as the final outcome for the England captain.
, former referee Owens provided his expert analysis of the incident, and the Welshman argues that reason, not emotion, must govern the decision that could see Farrell miss the start of the World Cup.
“Owen Farrell is a great player who I have a huge amount of respect for. But he has a history of making this kind of tackle, he’s been punished before and perhaps got away with a couple too,” he writes. “So there’s a lot of emotion around the player, but as a referee we’ve got to strip that away and look at the facts.
“Do we have foul play? Yes, we do. Do we have contact with the head? Yes, we do. Do we have a high degree of danger? Yes, we certainly do. Do we have mitigation? In my view, no we don’t. I don’t think there was any late change from Basham which Farrell could not adjust to, he was the only player contributing to the action of the tackle. And when a player’s action is always illegal, then mitigation plays no part in the process.
“The key thing about mitigation here is that Farrell’s actions were always illegal. No matter what happened, he was always leading with the shoulder and not making an attempt to wrap for a legal tackle – so mitigation does not and should not play a part in the decision.Photo: Ashley Western/MB Media/Getty Images
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