England captain Owen Farrell suspended for first 2 games of Rugby World Cup

Captain Owen Farrell will miss England's first two matches at the Rugby World Cup after World Rugby successfully appealed against the decision to not sanction him for a recent red card.

Farrell was handed a four-match ban by an appeal committee on Tuesday following a hearing that lasted most of the day.

The final two matches of that suspension cover the World Cup fixtures against Argentina on Sept. 9 in Marseille and Japan on Sept. 17 in Nice, England's seemingly hardest two games in Pool D.

Farrell was initially yellow-carded for a high, dangerous tackle that knocked Wales flanker Taine Basham out of England’s 19-17 win in the World Cup warmup game at Twickenham on Aug. 12. The yellow was upgraded to red after a video review but a judicial committee said that decision was wrong, citing a “sudden and significant change in direction from the ball carrier” before Farrell's hit.

Amid widespread surprise and dismay at the decision of the disciplinary panel in an era when there's so much focus on head injuries in the game, World Rugby appealed.

The appeal committee unanimously determined that in the original hearing, the disciplinary panel “should have considered the attempt of the player (Farrell) to wrap his opponent in the tackle. This point did not feature in the original decision.”

The appeal committee sided with the video reviewer in agreeing that Farrell didn't attempt to wrap his arms around Basham. Therefore, the tackle was “always illegal” and could not be mitigated, so the decision to downgrade the red card to yellow was “manifestly wrong.”

The red card was upheld.

He was given a six-match ban that was reduced to four because of Farrell's “acceptance of foul play, clear demonstration of remorse and his good character.” It is, however, the fourth time he has been banned in his career for a dangerous tackle.

Farrell will also be suspended for England's final warmup game, against Fiji at Twickenham on Saturday, and retrospectively was banned for the 29-10 loss to Ireland in Dublin on Saturday, from which England coach Steve Borthwick decided to stand down Farrell anyway.

Farrell will be available again for England's final pool games at the World Cup against Chile and Samoa. The tournament in France starts on Sept. 8.

Things could get worse for England, with Billy Vunipola — the only No. 8 in the squad — also facing the judicial committee on Tuesday following a red card against Ireland for a high tackle into the face of prop Andrew Porter.

Vunipola should discover his punishment on Wednesday.

In Farrell's absence, George Ford is set to start at flyhalf against Argentina and Japan, with Marcus Smith covering on the bench. England likely needs to win one of those games to secure a top-two finish in the pool and qualify for the quarterfinals.