England vs Wales LIVE: Rugby result and reaction after Owen Farrell red card in Rugby World Cup warm-up
Steve Borthwick’s side rallied late after going down to 12 men to edge Wales at Twickenham
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England fought back to edge Wales 19-17 in a World Cup warm up full of incident, injury and yellow cards - and notably a red card for captain Owen Farrell that could see him suspended for their opening game of the tournament in France next month.
A dull game burst into life in the second half amid a flurry of sin-binnings for both sides, with one for England‘s Freddie Steward leading to a penalty try for Wales. England were reduced to 12 men with further cards for Ellis Genge and Farrell - later upgraded to red - and Tomos Williams put them further ahead with a breakaway try. However, Maro Itoje hit back for battling England, replacement George Ford converted then kicked the decisive penalty four minutes from the end.
England‘s fans were left somewhat bewildered as they had spent a frustrating hour wondering just how their team were going to score a try and play some rugby but left delighted by the gutsy comeback. Relive all the action from Twickenham LIVE below:
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Steve Borthwick will ‘wait and see’ over captain Owen Farrell
England captain Owen Farrell is set to miss the start of the World Cup after being sent off in Saturday’s 19-17 victory over Wales at Twickenham.
Farrell’s yellow card for a shoulder-led tackle to the head of Taine Basham was upgraded to a red by the bunker review system, reducing the home side to 12 men because of the yellow cards shown to Freddie Steward and Ellis Genge. England now face the prospect losing their captain for the critical opener against Argentina on September 9, with his availability for the remainder of the group stage to be determined by a disciplinary hearing next week.
Fixtures against Ireland and Fiji complete the warm-up schedule and, while those games would be included in a suspension, his outlook will be affected by being sanctioned for dangerous tackles in the past.. As recently as January he received a ban that was reduced to three games for attending tackle school.
“I’ll wait and see what comes of the disciplinary process,” head coach Steve Borthwick said.
“Right now it would be wrong for me to comment on an individual incident that would likely go through a disciplinary procedure. I’ll deal with the facts of the situation.”
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Owen Farrell sent off as England secure scrappy late win over Wales
England’s preparations for the World Cup continued to unravel after captain Owen Farrell was sent off in a 19-17 victory secured through a late George Ford penalty.
At one point during the final quarter Steve Borthwick’s men were reduced to 12 men when Farrell – whose yellow card for a dangerous tackle on Taine Basham was upgraded to a red by the bunker – followed the sin-binned Freddie Steward and Ellis Genge into the stands.
England’s brainless final quarter saw a 9-3 lead overtaken by a penalty try and swashbuckling Tomos Williams touch-down as an otherwise lifeless encounter exploded into life the moment Steward took Josh Adams out in the air in the 60th minute.
A fourth successive defeat and slump to ninth in the world rankings beckoned, but they rallied bravely and even with three players off the pitch they claimed a maul try scored by Maro Itoje before Ford landed the winning penalty with three minutes left.
Owen Farrell sent off as England secure scrappy late win over Wales
A fourth successive defeat and slump to ninth in the world rankings beckoned before England rallied bravely
Borthwick continues
“We want 15 players on the pitch. I coach 15 players on the pitch. That is the message I sent. We know that cards are part of the game now. We practice scenarios, we practiced scenarios this week - but I must admit we didn’t practice with 12. Maybe we’ll have to do that next week.”
Courtney Lawes, who took over the captaincy after Farrell’s dismissal, adds...
“Not many teams would win that game. We can take positives from it, but at the same time it’s probably not good enough. Going down to 12 men, if we keep putting ourselves in that situation we are not likely to do what we did today, so a lot to learn. It is great to show that character.
Steve Borthwick reacts to Owen Farrell’s sending off and England’s win
“I’m incredibly proud of the character the players showed. It is a group of players that just don’t stop, they keep going. That’s something they have worked hard to instil in this group that is potentially something that wouldn’t have been said in the past.
“Warren coaches a team that are hard to beat, so they are often armwrestles. That’s similar to how Argentina play. I know they were beaten well by New Zealand, but the rest of their games are tight. That’s a perfect dress rehearsal for that game.
“I’ll wait and see exactly what comes of [the Owen Farrell incident]. It is likely to be a disciplinary hearing. I said there will be a need to adapt over the coming weeks and months and we will adapt. Rght now, it would be wrong for me to comment upon an individual incident that is likely to go through disciplinary procedure. We are fully supportive of working on players’ tackle height.
“The key word is if. We will wait and see and deal with the facts of the situation. We’ll find the facts out very soon and we will deal with it then. I said before that hving three players deep in specialist positions is very important.”
Owen Farrell given red card and faces ban to cast doubt over World Cup involvement
Owen Farrell could miss the opening games of the Rugby World Cup after the England captain was sent off against Wales at Twickenham.
Farrell was initially shown a yellow card after his shoulder made direct, forceful contact to the head of Taine Basham having been trying to tackle the Welsh forward, with referee Nika Amashukeli placing the incident under review.
The yellow was subsequently upgraded to a red by television match official Brian MacNeice, with Farrell trudging down the tunnel after his sending off.
How many games will Owen Farrell be banned for after red card?
Farrell was sent off for a high tackle against Wales and now faces an uncertain build-up to the Rugby World Cup in France
Warren Gatland on Owen Farrell’s sending off
“I think it was the right decision. Hopefully, for Owen’s sake, he doesn’t get too much of a ban - we need someone like him in the game and it would be a huge blow for England. Given his previous, I’m not sure what is going to happen with that. We’ve seen some inconsistencies with that in the last few weeks. I look back to the Lions, Dylan Hartley getting an 11-week ban for abusing a referee. With everything, all you are looking for is consistency. Hopefully we will get that when the World Cup comes around.”
Warren Gatland reacts after Wales defeat
“There are still some players we need to find out about and potentially give some opportunities to. We know and expect that it is going to be the same sort of test up front [against South Africa]. We need to take the learnings from today and apply them next week.
“We’ve still got work to do but I’m pretty pleased. We’ve given out eight new caps and changed our entire team from one week to the next. I hate losing and we got ourselves in a position where we should have won the game, but hopefully the players learn from that experience. We think we are in a pretty good position where we are.”
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