England rugby captain Owen Farrell was last night banned for five matches for his red card horror tackle. The suspension ensures he will be available for England’s entire autumn campaign but the fly-half is out of his club Saracens’ Champions Cup quarter-final against Leinster in Dublin on Saturday week.
Farrell, 28, accepted the charge of taking out Wasps teenage fly-half Charlie Atkinson with a dangerous hit to the head. It was nonetheless a marathon hearing, lasting more than four hours, which concluded with the three-man panel condemning his “totally unacceptable” challenge.
Independent panel chair Mike Hamlin said: "It was accepted by the RFU, the player and the Panel that the offending was reckless and not intentional. “This was a
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