OT: FARRELL BANNED AT THIRD ATTEMPT

Owen Farrell red card: England captain to miss first two World Cup pool games as ban reinstated
BBC Sport

The England captain's four-game ban means he will miss the group matches against Argentina and Japan, with two warm-up fixtures also included.

Farrell's red card had been overturned by an independent judicial committee, which was then overruled on Tuesday.

The appeal committee said the tackle was "always illegal".

Farrell became the first England player to receive a red card from rugby's new 'bunker' review system when he made a high tackle on Taine Basham during England's 19-17 win over Wales on 12 August.

The appeal committee found that, in their original hearing, the disciplinary committee should have considered Farrell's attempt to wrap his opponent in the tackle.

Therefore the appeal committee determined that no mitigation could be made for the tackle, and the decision to overturn the red card was an error - which led them to ban Farrell.

The ban will include last weekend's 29-10 defeat by Ireland in Dublin, which the appeal committee said Farrell "voluntarily stood down" from playing in after World Rugby announced its intention to appeal beforehand.

The 31-year-old will also miss England's final warm-up game against Fiji this weekend at Twickenham as well as the first two pool matches. He will be available to play again on 23 September against Chile.

England's opening World Cup game against Argentina is on 9 September in Marseille.

When launching its appeal against the overturning of the ban, World Rugby said "player welfare is the number one priority".

In January, the RFU approved a reduction in tackle height for the community game in England in order to improve player safety, while tightening laws around high tackles in the professional game aimed to further help the issue.

England number eight Billy Vunipola is also due to face the disciplinary panel for a red card in the defeat by Ireland following a high tackle which resulted in direct head contact on Ireland prop Andrew Porter.

A ban of more than one game for Vunipola would result in England also being without their only specialist number eight for the start of the competition.

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Billy Vunipola hearing as England No. 8's Rugby World Cup punishment wait goes on

The England back-rower is facing a ban which could see him miss the start of the Rugby World Cup

England back-rower Billy Vunipola saw his yellow card upgraded to red against Ireland(Image: David Rogers/Getty Images)
Billy Vunipola's wait to discover whether he will miss the start of England's World Cup campaign will enter a second day.

Vunipola was yellow carded in the dismal defeat to Ireland on Saturday, following a shoulder-to-head challenge on prop Andrew Porter. That was then upgraded to a red card via the off-field TMO bunker.

Should he receive a ban, he will be set to miss the start of England's World Cup campaign, which begins against Argentina on September 9.

A suspension would potentially be a disastrous development for England coach Steve Borthwick, with Vunipola the only specialist No. 8 named in his 33-man squad for the upcoming tournament.

He was set to find out his fate on Tuesday - but the hearing failed to deliver a verdict as the day drew to a close. Team-mate Owen Farrell, however, was handed a four-game ban.

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