Owen Farrell banned from England’s first two Rugby World Cup matches

Farrell's suspension will see him miss the World Cup clashes with Argentina and Japan.

BANNED: England's Owen Farrell during a training session at the Honda England Rugby Performance Centre at Pennyhill Park. Pic: Adam Davy/PA Wire.

Owen Farrell will miss England’s first two World Cup matches after the decision to rescind his red card was overturned on Tuesday night, dealing a hammer blow to his side’s faltering campaign.

The England captain has been banned for four matches, meaning he will sit out the key fixtures against Argentina and Japan – as well as Saturday’s warm-up match against Fiji. Crucially, the panel determined the suspension should be backdated to include last week’s defeat by Ireland, even though Farrell could have appeared in Dublin.