England narrowly escaped a World Cup calamity after Owen Farrell took the full force of the first red card offence at this World Cup.
The team’s captain and most influential player was only given half an hour off the bench in England’s 45-7 defeat of the USA.
But it was long enough to find himself in harm’s way after American flanker John Quill caught him with a shoulder to the face 10 minutes from time.
Commentating for ITV, former England star Ugo Monye said: “It’s a disgrace. That is not even a tackle, it’s a cheap shot.”
A relieved Eddie Jones joked that Farrell was “missing half his nose” as a result of the incident, which sparked a mini brawl.
“I’m sure his nose is still out there. I think they are about to barbecue part of it,” the coach added. “They’ve found it out on the field.”
A concussion or worse at this stage of the tournament would prove disastrous given England’s dependency on Farrell in the biggest games.
But Jones refused to condemn Quill, who can expect to be banned given Aussie wing Reece Hodge got three weeks for his dangerous tackle against Fiji.
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Perhaps it was because he has a player who finds himself in a similarly anxious position, centre Piers Francis having caught Will Hooley high in the very first move of the match.
“I don’t speak to the players about tackling high because they know where to tackle,” said the boss. “We play a tough physical game and we go out hitting people as hard as we can. We want to do it legally but players make mistakes.”
USA boss Gary Gold said of Francis’ tackle that “if there’s contact to the head then it must be reviewed”, suggesting they they would refer it to the judiciary.
(Image: AFP/Getty Images)
Nonetheless, England left Kobe Stadium in high spirits, unbeaten and with a near fully-fit squad to choose from when they return to action against Argentina a week tomorrow.
“We understand that they’re playing for their lives,” said Jones. “Argentina are a passionate, proud rugby country, difficult to beat. It will be important we match their passion and play with a fair bit of control.”
