Ireland head coach Andy Farrell has defended his son Owen following a “disgusting circus” surrounding the fly-half’s ongoing disciplinary process after he was sent off during England’s 19-17 win against Wales on 12 August.
"The circus that's gone on in and around all of this is absolutely disgusting,” the Ireland head coach said.
“Whatever I say is probably flawed anyway because you’re talking about somebody’s son.
“I don’t normally say too much because of that but what I probably would say at this moment in time is that the circus that has gone around all of this is absolutely disgusting,” he added.
The former England and Saracens coach went on to further describe the wider impact on their family.
“What could I say? I don’t know. I’d probably get his mother up here to do an interview with you, and you’ll see the human side of the bulls**t that’s happening like, you know?”
“Or maybe get his wife to write a book on it, because then you’ll probably see the impact that it’s having on, not just the professional player, but the families and the human side that goes with it.”
The yellow card Farrell received at Twickenham for a challenge on Taine Basham was upgraded to a red card following a review by the Foul Play Review Officer (FPRO) as part of the new television match official bunker system which deemed the tackle to have “high degree of danger, no mitigation”. After a disciplinary process led by Six Nations, the organisers of the Summer Nations Series fixtures, he was cleared to play.
The initial disciplinary decision read: “Having regard to the totality of the evidence before us we are satisfied, on the balance of probabilities, that the decision of the FPRO to upgrade the Yellow Card to a Red Card was wrong. Accordingly, the Red Card is dismissed and the Player is free to resume playing rugby immediately.”
The decision has now been appealed by World Rugby, which said: “World Rugby fully supports the important role that an independent disciplinary process plays in upholding the integrity and values of the sport, particularly regarding foul play involving head contact. Player welfare is the sport’s number one priority, and the Head Contact Process is central to that mission at the elite level of the sport.”
England will face Ireland in Dublin on Saturday with the 31-year-old omitted from Steve Borthwick’s side.
Borthwick’s decision to remove the captain from the team to play against Andy Farrell’s Ireland came after a disruption to training due to the disciplinary process.
“Regarding the ongoing disciplinary matter with Owen Farrell, unfortunately given the disruption to his week, the intrusion in terms of his preparation, I made the decision to pull him out of the team that he would have otherwise led this weekend,” Borthwick said.
“The situation is one I find really disappointing. We thought we had reached a conclusion in this matter on Tuesday. It had an impact in terms of the disruption for this week, now it is going to be ongoing into next Test week.”
He went on to condemn the vitriol towards Farrell’s character.
“The situation with the England team and Owen, in particular, seems to be amplified. The commentary around it seems to move from an issue around the tackle to personal attacks on the character of the man. It’s just wrong.
“Owen has handled himself through this process in a really respectful manner. We respect the process and thought we had reached the conclusion of it. We will continue to respect the process and the decision that is reached.
“He is a teammate, he is a member of our squad, he is the captain of our squad and we all feel for him, we all feel when one of our group is on the receiving end of such personal attacks, we all feel it. Owen has conducted himself brilliantly throughout the week.”
