Owen Farrell will find out by 5pm today whether he is to be cited for the tackle that could have cost England victory over South Africa.
The officiating of Farrell’s added-time challenge on Andre Esterhuizen has polarised opinion as Eddie Jones’ men opened their autumn series with a backs-to-the-wall 12-11 win at Twickenham.
Farrell stopped Esterhuizen in his tracks with shoulder-led tackle to the chest without wrapping an arm around the Springboks centre, but referee Angus Gardner declined to award a kickable penalty.
Citing commissioner Keith Brown has until 5pm today to decide whether the challenge warranted a red card, thereby triggering a citing that would threaten Farrell’s involvement against New Zealand on Saturday.
England wing Chris Ashton felt the decision could have gone either way, Eddie Jones had “no idea” if his co-captain would face subsequent disciplinary action while Ben Te’o described the tackle as a “legal hit”.
South Africa’s management were furious at Gardner’s failure to act, their coach Rassie Erasmus praising the tackle in an answer laced with sarcasm, but Farrell himself insists there is no case to answer.
“It went to the touch judge, he said check and then it all slows down. Sometimes you can take what you want from it,” Farrell said.
“If you watch that full speed, he has a big run up on me and we both bounce off each other and end up on the floor.
“It’s hard to wrap your arms around when you’re both hitting each other at that much force, but I tried to.”
When asked if he had wrapped enough arm around Esterhuizen, Farrell added: “That’s what the referee said and that’s what is most important.”
The incident happened amid a clampdown on dangerous tackles with officials instructed to punish offences severely in an attempt to reduce the number of head injuries in the sport.
Former international referee Jonathan Kaplan – a South African – declared Gardner made the wrong decision, adding that Farrell’s “arm wrapping around is an afterthought”.
Te’o, England’s inside centre, insists the tackle looked worse than the reality of it.
“It was a legal hit. Sometimes when a big shot is made on the chest, the head whips back,” he said.
“It can look bad in real time, but when you slow it down it’s a chest shot. He had his arm to wrap, so it was a legal hit.
“Owen almost knocked himself out! That’s Owen – he plays with a lot of passion and he really wanted to finish with a win, so it was a big shot.”
Apart from the late drama, Farrell was an inspirational presence who propelled England to victory through force of will as a remarkable defensive performance morphed into series of frantic attacks.
At the heart of the fightback was Saracens’ playmaker, who showed steely resilience to recover from an thunderous earlier tackle by Esterhuizen.
“Owen was intense. He really wanted it so bad. He was banged up and was struggling to get through that, but he soldiered on,” Te’o added.
“His whole life is rugby. The guy loves rugby. It’s all he’s about. He lives, breathes it, talks about it. Nothing else but rugby.
“He wants it bad and he wants to be successful. He puts in a lot of work.”
