Captain Owen Farrell missing the first two games of the World Cup is “not the end of the world” for England, says former player Matt Dawson.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!His suspension had previously been overturned by an independent judicial committee.
“I don’t see it being as bad as people initially think,” said Dawson.
“Yes, he’s the England captain and has huge experience; from all accounts, he’s very influential. But I can’t, hand on my heart, say he’s been ripping up trees for England for a number of years, and I’m not seeing that influence on the pitch.”
Farrell missed last week’s 29-10 defeat by Ireland and will also be suspended for Saturday’s warm-up game against Fiji and World Cup group matches against Argentina and Japan.
“I do see more influence from the likes of George Ford, and it looks like he probably will be the number 10 when it comes to those first two games of the World Cup,” said Dawson.
“I honestly don’t think it will affect the England team negatively. It’s not the end of the world.”
Former England fly-half Paul Grayson said Farrell’s absence gave other players, such as vice-captain Courtney Lawes, more of an opportunity to be a voice.
“You have got captains throughout the side with vast experience,” Grayson told BBC Radio 5 Live.
“Not having the totemic figure for those first two games, I don’t think that is a massive miss for England. There is leadership in the team and perhaps one of the criticisms of England is that they lean too heavy on the voice of Owen Farrell sometimes.”
Dawson, meanwhile, is more concerned by the absence of Billy Vunipola, who will also miss England’s World Cup opener against Argentina on 9 September after he was given a three-game ban.
Vunipola, 30, was initially shown a yellow card against Ireland, but was suspended after that was upgraded to a red. His ban will be reduced to two matches if he completes the World Rugby coaching programme on tackling.
Dawson believes there are “huge ramifications” to his absence, with England needing to “physically dominate” Argentina’s pack.
The Pumas are only one place below England in the World Rugby rankings and are expected to be their toughest opponents in the pool stage.
Vunipola is the only specialist number eight in the squad, with versatile flankers Ben Earl, Lewis Ludlam and Tom Curry candidates to replace him.
“England do lack a bit of go-forward,” Dawson told BBC Sport.
“Billy is a guy they look to in order to get that go-forward. Is it going to be the same with Lewis Ludlam or Tom Curry? Is it going to take away from their skills in other positions?
“Imagine the pressure it puts on England if they don’t win that game and have to play against Japan to get out of the pool.
“There are huge ramifications for what is only going to be a two-week ban.”
Farrell process ‘not slick or appropriate’
Farrell and Vunipola were both shown red cards after input from the sport’s new ‘bunker’ review system.
That involves a second television match official (TMO) reviewing an incident for which a player has been yellow-carded as play continues.
Though Vunipola had a straightforward hearing, the process surrounding Farrell’s suspension was more complicated.
The appeal committee found the initial disciplinary panel should have considered his attempt to wrap his opponent in the tackle. That meant no mitigation could be made for the tackle, and the decision to overturn the red card was an error.
BBC pundit Dawson – a World Cup winner with England in 2003 – said the process was a “fiasco”.
“There had to be a decision, some kind of ban, because it is unacceptable to have those types of tackles within the game without any kind of punishment,” he said.
“I think, unfortunately, the game again has put itself in the dock by not just giving that ban at the very start of this.
“I can’t sit here and say the process from the yellow-card bunker review to where we are now has been in any way slick or appropriate.”
‘There are still a lot of grey areas’
England scrum-half Danny Care said on Tuesday the team had been “working on tackle technique every day” in a bid to improve their discipline.
While Dawson’s fellow World Cup winner Will Greenwood agreed with the decision to suspend Farrell, he urged pundits to review every tackle objectively with no preconceptions.
“I feel over the past two weeks there’s been this constant, ‘It’s him, it’s him’. We’ve got to try to look at each tackle according to the letters of the law and judge it on that,” said Greenwood.
“I think they have got to the right conclusion but I think people are occasionally hysterical in thinking Farrell isn’t trying to change the way he’s playing or tackling.
“If he’s grown up tackling like that, in those high-speed split-second moments, no matter how much training you do, muscle memory leaves you at risk of committing what is now viewed as serious foul play, but when he began to play it wasn’t.
“There’s no apologies here. There’s no Owen Farrell drum beating. I just feel the world seems to have gone so binary and there are still a lot of grey areas.”
- Deliciously daft comedy: A messy hen-do in an isolated Welsh cottage gets derailed by the apocalypse…
- No motive. No explanation: One of Britain’s most callous and brutal killings
