Owen Farrell ban statement in full as England star’s red card v Wales reinstated

Owen Farrell has been ruled out of England’s opening Rugby World Cup games after his red card against Wales was upheld.

The fly-half has been slapped with a four-match ban for the shoulder hit on Welsh back-row Taine Basham, having originally been shown a yellow card which was later upgraded to a red via the off-field TMO review bunker.

While the red card was overturned at a disciplinary hearing last week, that decision was appealed by World Rugby, with the England captain attending a second hearing on Tuesday.

Now, Farrell has been banned for four matches, with the suspension backdated to include England’s defeat to Ireland on August 19. He will miss England’s final warm-up game against Fiji this weekend, as well as their World Cup pool stage matches against Argentina and Japan, but will return to face Chile and Samoa at the tournament in France.

Six Nations Rugby have released a statement outlining the panel’s decision, claiming that the first committee was “manifestly wrong” in its verdict having not considered that Farrell had not attempted to wrap his arms, meaning no mitigation could be applied.

Here is that statement in full:

“Following an init