LONDON - England captain Owen Farrell's involvement in the upcoming World Cup was thrown into fresh doubt Thursday when World Rugby announced it would be appealing against the decision to overturn his red card in a warm-up match against Wales.
Farrell was sent off during England's 19-17 win at Twickenham last weekend after the 'bunker' review system upgraded an initial yellow card to red after he made contact with a shoulder-led tackle to the head of Taine Basham.
The fly-half who has been suspended before for dangerous tackling, was facing a six-week ban that could have ruled him out of the start of next month's World Cup in France.
But an all-Australian disciplinary panel caused uproar on Tuesday by concluding the foul play review officer "was wrong, on the balance of probabilities, to upgrade the yellow card issued to the player to a red card."
It ruled Farrell was free to play again immediately -- a decision England's 2003 World Cup-winning coach Clive Woodward said had "made the game a complete and utter laughing stock".
World Rugby said in a statement Thursday: "Having considered the full written decision, World Rugby considers an appeal to be warranted."
The global governing body's move had an immediate impact upon England's warm-up clash with top-ranked Ireland on Saturday.
England coach Steve Borthwick had wanted -- and was free -- to select Farrell for the Dublin game with Six Nations Grand Slam champions Ireland.
But such was the disruption Farrell had suffered, former England captain Borthwick left him out his matchday 23 entirely.
"In my original planning for the Summer Nations Series and as part of our World Cup preparation, Owen Farrell was due to be selected to play in Saturday's Test," Borthwick said.
"However, in light of the fact that so much of Owen's training and match preparation time this week has been significantly affected and interrupted by the disciplinary process, I have not selected him in the matchday 23. Owen will travel to Ireland with our full support."
- 'Circus' -
Ireland are coached by Andy Farrell, Owen's father, and he hit out at some of the more vitriolic comments surrounding his son's case.
"The circus that's gone on, in and around all of this, is absolutely disgusting, in my opinion, disgusting," said Farrell senior after naming his team to play England.
World Rugby, while insisting it "fully supports" an independent disciplinary process, said: "Player welfare is the sport's number one priority, and the Head Contact Process is central to that mission at the elite level of the sport."
It added: "An independent appeal committee will be appointed to determine the matter at the earliest possible opportunity."
Farrell received a three-match ban for the same offence in January, on top of five matches in 2020 and two in 2016.
But although Farrell admitted to the panel that he made a shoulder-led tackle that struck the head of Basham, the video hearing decided a "late change in dynamics" due to Jamie George's involvement in the contact area "brought about a sudden and significant change in direction from the ball carrier".
The new 'bunker' system was called into action as on-field referee Nika Amashukeli could not decide if Farrell's tackle on Basham warranted a straight red card.
The panel added that it had no criticism of the foul play-review officer, given the time in which he had to make a decision.
Farrell, 31, has endured repeated criticism for his tackling style, with his most recent suspension coming after an illegal challenge on Gloucester's Jack Clement in January.
That ban was reduced from four to three games after Farrell completed World Rugby's tackle school, enabling him to face Scotland in the Six Nations opener.
England, losing finalists in 2019, have one further warm-up game, against Fiji on August 26, before launching their World Cup campaign against Argentina in Marseille on September 9.
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By Julian Guyer