Then it suddenly came alive during a bizarre ending as England pressed the self-destruct button with prop Ellis Genge being yellow-carded for a scrum offence and full-back Freddie Steward for a dangerous challenge in the air on Josh Adams.
With the latter resulting in a penalty try Wales, against the run of play and in terms of possession and territory, were suddenly and unexpectedly in front.
Owen Farrell then laid out Taine Basham with a shoulder to the chops. How Farrell was initially only yellow-carded was beyond me – it was a sure-fire sending off. It was a formality it would be upgraded to a red card under the new review procedure and, with his disciplinary record, Farrell could cop a long ban and at least miss the start of the Rugby World Cup in France.
You would hope this would be the last time Farrell is in front of disciplinary chiefs but his previous form suggests it may not be the case because he can’t seem to change his ways. What made it worse was it looked like he knew exactly what he was doing. It’s crazy, when you think about it, because it’s almost impossible to get away with any form of foul play at the top end of international rugby with the pitch covered by cameras recording from seemingly every angle.
Denne historien er fra August 13, 2023-utgaven av The Rugby Paper.
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Denne historien er fra August 13, 2023-utgaven av The Rugby Paper.
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