World Rugby chiefs are understood to have appealed Owen Farrell’s rescinded red card to protect the good of the game.
The global governing body felt compelled to contest the decision to exonerate Farrell for his high tackle on Wales’ Taine Basham to defend the wide-ranging work carried out on player welfare.
Both Farrell and England’s conduct are beyond reproach, but World Rugby will contest the disciplinary panel’s reasoning in their decision.
Disciplinary bosses at World Rugby are understood to appreciate full well the high bar required to win this kind of appeal.
World Rugby pressed on with the appeal undeterred however, to back up their work on head-injury prevention and tackle safety.
World Rugby are prepared to argue that Farrell’s challenge on Basham was in effect a shoulder charge and therefore always illegal, which would remove all mitigation from the equation.
Should World Rugby be able to make that argument successfully in the appeal hearing, then Farrell can expect a suspension that would curtail his involvement at the start of the Rugby World Cup.
Farrell was sent off in England’s 19-17 win over Wales at Twickenham last weekend.
The 31-year-old was awarded a yellow card on the field, with the incident referred to the new review bunker.
A specialist television match official reviews referred incidents, with 10 minutes to decide whether to upgrade yellow cards to full dismissals.
World Rugby bosses were also minded to appeal in order to protect the integrity of their new bunker system.
World Rugby believes the bunker operated exactly as it should in this instance.
The governing body fears the fallout from the Farrell saga could undermine the credibility of a system that it is hoped will significantly improve overall refereeing of key flash points.
Farrell was cleared of a red card offence in Tuesday’s independent disciplinary hearing, with the Six Nations running the disciplinary operation for the summer internationals.
World Rugby lodged their appeal to the Six Nations yesterday, who in turn confirmed receipt – and that a new hearing will be convened early next week.
England have stood Farrell down for Saturday’s World Cup warm-up Test against Ireland in Dublin, even though the 108-cap fly-half is actually free to play.
England will host Fiji at Twickenham on Saturday week in their final warm-up clash, before opening their World Cup campaign by facing Argentina in Marseille on Saturday, September 9.
Any ban now for Farrell could run from four to six weeks, which would severely dent England’s preparations and their pool-stage schedule.
Head coach Steve Borthwick would be fully expected to keep Farrell in his squad in those circumstances however, trusting in George Ford and Marcus Smith to deliver until the skipper would return.
