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Uproar as Farrell appears to get away with yet another shoulder charge
Owen Farrell’s problematic tackling technique and the apparent unwillingness of rugby authorities to take him to task over his shoulder charges are in the spotlight once again.
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The Saracens playmaker only received a penalty after making contact with the neck area of Worcester’s Tom Howe in his side’s one-sided 62 – 5 thrashing of Worcester Warriors.
It is the latest in a long line of questionable decision around Farrell’s tackling.
The contact was referred to referee Craig Maxwell-Keys who ruled after viewing the TMO footage that Farrell had started low and risen up, giving rise to “mitigating circumstances”.
Farrell’s got away with one here. pic.twitter.com/fugk4UNctf
— Robert Rees (@Rreesrugby) January 4, 2020
To make matters worse, Worcester lock Anton Bresler was sin-binned just minutes later for an apparent dangerous clear-out on Mako Vunipola. The Saracens prop was floored from the incident and Bresler was given his marching orders.
Many online were left questioning how Farrell appeared to yet again evade ay significant sanction, despite his shoulder making contact with the head and neck area of a player and with no obvious wrapping of the arms.
Rugby legal expert and concussion advocate Tim O’Connor tweeted: “And then you notice that what you see by the tackled player’s head is not a royal-blue hoarding but the black jersey on Farrell’s shoulder.”
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https://twitter.com/timoconnorbl/status/1213529566305800192
https://twitter.com/ScottBaileys/status/1213515980946706432
https://twitter.com/joshgardner/status/1213520708250349569
https://twitter.com/DarrenBirch68/status/1213488877052289024
https://twitter.com/ianapharri/status/1213523284333076481
https://twitter.com/VikkiSquires19/status/1213524722039894019
https://twitter.com/slattsmachine/status/1213516033551671299
https://twitter.com/ryandevlin123/status/1213535427510059008
https://twitter.com/ianalex86/status/1213549397486772224
https://twitter.com/supertaf99/status/1213534855809683456
Others however defended the decision not to card the England star.
https://twitter.com/joesummer100/status/1213533189576298496
When you see the dominant tackles from Owen Farrell, with his @Saracens team 50-5 up, you understand why Eddie Jones picks him.
— Hugh Godwin (@hughgodwin_) January 4, 2020
Farrell’s tackling was far from Saracens DoR Mark McCall mind after the game. McCall admitted the setback at Sandy Park the previous week had hurt the club as they continue their desperate battle against relegation.
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“When we looked at the Exeter performance properly, it was really frustrating to see our lack of intensity at crucial points,” McCall said.
“We were outworked by Exeter so fair play to them for that, but it’s something we don’t want to happen.
“We want to play with intensity and properly work hard and as we saw here that gives you a lot of good things in rugby. We enjoyed it and we want to enjoy our rugby.
“We did that in the first 30 minutes and got a lot of rewards. The second half was very disjointed because of all the injuries.”
RugbyPass/additional reporting PA
One of Welsh Rugby’s biggest characters on and off the pitch, RugbyPass travelled to Brecon to see how life after rugby is treating Andy Powell.
Comments on RugbyPass
He would be a great player for the Stormers, Dobbo should approach the guy.
3 Go to commentsGood article. A few years back when he was playing for the Cheetahs, he was a quiet standout for exactly the seasons stated here. I occasionally get to see his games in the UK, and he has become a more complete player and in many ways like an Irish player. His work ethic is so suitable to the Leinster game. I wonder if Rassie would have him listed somewhere.
3 Go to commentsResults probably skewed by the fact that a few clubs have foreign fly halves in their 30s, but most teams have young English scrum halves. Results also likely to be skewed by the fact that many teams rely on centres and fullbacks to provide depth at 10, whereas they will need to stock a large number of specialist backup 9s.
1 Go to commentsI really get the sense that when all is said and done, the path of least resistance will end up being a merger of Wasps & Worcester that essentially kills the Worcester Warriors brand and sees Wasps permanently playing at Sixways. I’m not saying that’s what should happen or what I want to happen. I just think it’s the easiest rout to take and therefore, will be what happens. Wasps will definitely return to play first, and I suppose it all depends on if they can find support at Sixways. If people turn up and support Wasps in that community, at that ground, I bet they drop the Sevenoaks plan and just remain at Sixways. Under the radar but not totally unrelated, it looks as though London Irish are going to be brought back from the dead by a German consortium and look set to return, likely to the remade Championship. It’s set to have 12 clubs next season with 14 in 2025/26, what do you want to bet those extra 2 are Wasps and London Irish?
1 Go to commentsThe shoulder is a “joint” with multiple bones. You don’t “fracture” a shoulder, you fracture any one or more of the bones that make up a shoulder.
2 Go to commentsOh dear, bones too suspect to continue?
2 Go to commentsBold headline considering the Canes and Blues are 1 and 2 and the Brumbies were soundly beaten by the Chiefs and Blues. Biggest surprise is Rebels 4 Crusaders 12 - no one saw that coming. If Aus are improving that’s great 👍
1 Go to commentsAnna, You are right, we need to have patience whilst the others catch up to England and France. Also it is the PWR that has been the game changer for England. the RFU put money into that initially at the expense of the Red Roses. I was sceptical at first but it has paid off in spades.
1 Go to commentsI think Matt Proctor became a 1 test AB in the same fixture. Cameron is quality and has been great this season, can’t believe’s he only 27. Realistically how would he not be selected for ABs squad this year. Only Dmac is ahead of him as a specialist 10. With Jordan out, it will come down to where and when Beauden Barrett slots back in, and where they want to play Ruben Love. Cameron seems an absolute lock in for the wider squad though. Added benefit of TJ-Cameron-Jordie combination at 9, 10, 11 too.
1 Go to commentsFarcical, to what end would someone want to pay to keep this thing going.
1 Go to commentsHavili, our best 12 by a mile, will be in the squad, if he stays fit. JB is the most overrated AB in the last 50 years.
61 Go to commentsWe had during the week twilight footy, twilight cricket, tw golf plus there was the athletics club. Then the weekend was rugby 15s plus the net ball, really busy club scene back then but so much has changed and rugby has suffered. And it was all about changing lifestyles.
6 Go to commentsIn the 70s and 80s my club ran 5 Senior sides plus a Vets. Now it is 2 sides with an occasional 3rd team. Players have difficulty getting to training now, not sure why and the commitment is not there. It seems to me more a problem of people applying themselves and not expecting to turn up and play whenever they want to.
6 Go to commentsROG’s contract is until 2027. The conversation about a successor to Galthie after RWC 2027 may be starting now. We can infer that Galthie’s reign stops then. He is throwing the Irish Coaching Job angle in because he is Irish. The next Irish coach MUST be Leo Cullen. As well as being the best coach available, coaching the vast majority of Irish Internationals week in week out, he has shown incredible skill at recruiting the best coaching staff for the job in hand. That was a failing in France. Cullen is a shrewd guy and if there is a need for foreign coaches underneath him he won’t hesitate. Rightly so. Ireland does need to start to bring Irish coaches through. Not just at the professional level but we need to train coaches to man new pathways for developing kids from schools/clubs up through the divisions.
8 Go to commentsNo Islam says it must rule where it stands Thus it is to be deleted from this planet Earth
18 Go to commentsThis team probably does not beat the ABs sadly Not sure if BPA will be available given his signing for Force but has to enter consideration. Very strong possibility of getting schooled by the AB props. Advantage AB. Rodda/Skelton would be a tasty locking combination - would love to see how they get on. Advantage Wallabies. Backrow a risk of getting out hustled and outmuscled by ABs. Will be interesting to see if the Blues feast on the Reds this weekend the way they did the Brumbies we are in big trouble at the breakdown. Great energy, running and defence but goalkicking/general kicking/passing quality in the halves bothers me enormously. SA may have won the World Cup for a lot of the tournament without a recognised goalkicker but Pollard in the final made a difference IMO. Injuries and retirements leave AB stocks a bit lighter but still stronger. 12 and 13 ABs shade it (Barret > Paisami, Ione = Ikitau, arguably) Interesting clash of styles on the wings - Corey Toole running around Caleb Clark and Caleb running over the top of Toole. Reece vs Koro probably the reverse. Pretty even IMO. 15s Kelleway = Love See advantage to ABs man for man, but we are not obviously getting slaughtered anywhere which makes a nice change. Think talent wise we are pretty even and if our cohesion and teamwork is better than the ABs then its just about doable.
11 Go to commentsCompletely agree. More friday night games would be a hit. RFU to make sure every club has a floodlit pitch. Club opens again Saturday to welcome touch / tag. Minis and youths on Sunday
6 Go to comments1.97m and 105Kg? Proportionately, probably skinnier than me at 1.82 and 82kilos. He won’t survive against the big guys at that weight.
56 Go to commentsThe value he brought to the crusaders as an assistant was equal to what he got out of being there. He reflected not only on the team culture but also the credit he attributed to the rugby community. Such experience shouldn’t be overlooked.
8 Go to commentsGood luck Aussie
11 Go to comments